6 In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. 7 If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. 8 If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. ~Romans 12:6-8
Yesterday we established the fact that you do have a gift. Today I want to focus on how you discover your gifts! Too many people are living day-to-day and never utilizing their strengths or their gifts. Too many people don’t think they have any gifts or anything to offer the world. Often, this is just due to them not knowing what their strengths and gifts are.
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I didn’t discover I had any gifts until I was 18 years old, I did not discover the value of my gifts until recently, and I feel like I am just starting to develop my gifts. Here are a few ways I figured out what my strengths and gifts were, I hope that they’ll help you find yours:
Serve – the best thing I ever did to find my strengths is start volunteering in our youth ministry! There were a ton of areas I could get involved with. It allowed me to try several areas that I had an interest in. Some areas I thrived in, others I was horrible! Through a process of elimination, I started figuring out what areas I was able to add the most value to.
Take Personality and Strength Finder Tests -I’d encourage you to learn as much about yourself as you can! Take these assessments: Strength Finders, DISC, Personality Plus, and Myers Briggs. Take them and read the summaries of your personality and strengths. You’ll find it very enlightening!
Ask the Mentors in Your Life -People can see things in us that we can’t see in ourselves. My mentor, Pastor Larry Bettencourt, saw in me the ability to lead, communicate, and connect. I didn’t know any of those were in me and I took all of my natural abilities in those areas for granted. Ask mentors what they see in you!
Get around People Who Believe in You and Will Give You a Chance – You need opportunities to figure out what you’re good at and what you’re not. That is why serving is so important! Get around people in your organization who want to see you excel and will let you operate in your strengths!
Figure Out What is Easy for You That is Hard for Most People – Your gift, is probably something you take for granted. For me, I’ve always been good at getting along and connecting with people. It’s natural. I never thought it was a gift. When people told me I was good at it and it was a huge strength of mine, I realized it was a gift God had given me!
Take some time and start taking action on these steps. In time, I promise you that you’ll discover your gifts!
What are some other ways you have discovered your gifts?
Thoughts?
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One Response
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