THE DAUGHTER’S PROFILE #5
I Have Gifts That Are Well Defined
God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. I Peter 4:10-11
Every child of God has a spiritual gift. Most have several. There are a defined number available to us and they are easily discerned by taking a spiritual gifts test. I hope you’ve done that. Each of us needs to know. God gave spiritual gifts to us to give us the privilege of working with Him. Building the kingdom within the area of our spiritual gifts gives us joy and a great sense of purpose.
But there are also gifts that reside within our personalities. Because there are so many, these are harder to discern. It takes being in relationship with others to discover them. It requires feedback to help us see where our strengths lie because everyone is unique. Some have a way of telling a story. Someone like my friend, Phyllis, can take a clipping from most any shrub, stick it in the ground, and see it flourish. My sister in law paints what she calls a ‘doodle’ every day. She takes a 4 x 6 piece of parchment and with a few water color paints, draws something stunning in less then an hour. Other gifts would include the ability to simplify what is complicated. The ability to turn a phrase and make people laugh. The ability to think critically, like my sister, in order to speak on behalf of others. (She’s a lawyer.) The ability to compose music in your head without an instrument in sight. The ability to calm animals. The ability to to see a lamp, picture, and an antique chair and create a room around them.
Gifts are from God. We all have them. Some of us found them later in life. We grew up in a relational vacuum with little feedback from adults. We never heard parents and family members describe the unique ways we were created. As adults however, we are not powerless to know ourselves. God is our Father now and will show us what we lack. We must do two things.
- Ask our Creator to help us discover our uniqueness. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought fromafar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all. Psalm 139:2-3
- Ask a few intuitive friends who knows us well. If they walk with Jesus, they have an even greater edge of answering with wisdom.
It pains me to hear a woman say that she doesn’t believe she has any gifts. It’s not only NOT true but she is living a life without purpose. I encourage you to ask your Father today, “Tell me three things you love about me; three things you wired into me when You created me.” I did that recently and got an answer immediately. His answer made me sit up and take notice of whether I was investing my time to use those three qualities. His answer also prompted me to tweak my priorities. May God surprise you with His answer.
Reveal us to ourselves ~ through Your eyes ~ for Your glory. Amen
Originally published Tuesday, 05 March 2019.
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