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The Blue Letter Bible

Don Stewart :: How Does a Person Discover Their Spiritual Gifts?

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Don Stewart

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Everyone has at least one spiritual gift. How can someone discover his spiritual gift or gifts.

The Bible does not give us any formula for finding out what the spiritual gifts might be, yet there are certain things we can do.

Find Out The Gifts Available

First, one must find out what spiritual gifts are available. There are four passages of Scripture that lists the gifts (1 Corinthians 12:8-11,28-30; Romans 12:4-8; Ephesians 4:7-12).

Pray For Guidance

Once the believer recognizes what gifts are available, he should then pray for God to show him his particular gift or gifts. The Bible encourages us to pray for guidance:

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened (Matthew 7:7,8).

James wrote, "You do not have because you do not ask" (James 4:2).

Step Out In Faith

We should exercise, by faith, the gift or gifts we feel God has given us.

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must first believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).

Get Feedback From Others

Once we start exercising our gifts, we should get feedback from others to see if we are edifying the body of Christ.

But the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the profit of all (1 Corinthians 12:7).

In exercising his spiritual gifts, the believer should realize that he has at least one spiritual gift and may have more than one but he does not possess all of them. His gift is essential to the smooth functioning of the body of Christ.

Not Relieve Responsibility

Furthermore, the lack of a certain gift in a believers life does not relieve him from the responsibility to obey the general commands of God. For example, all of us are told to give (1 Corinthians 16:2) whether or not we have the gift of giving. Every believer is encouraged to show mercy (1 Thessalonians 5:14) though he may not have the gift of mercy. Likewise we are all instructed to evangelize (Acts 1:8) though we all do not possess the gift of an evangelist.

To discover his spiritual gifts the believer should:

1. Find out what gifts are available.

2. Be available to receive.

3. Pray for Gods guidance.

4. Step out in faith.

5. Get feedback from others.

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The Blue Letter Bible ministry and the BLB Institute hold to the historical, conservative Christian faith, which includes a firm belief in the inerrancy of Scripture. Since the text and audio content provided by BLB represent a range of evangelical traditions, all of the ideas and principles conveyed in the resource materials are not necessarily affirmed, in total, by this ministry.