What's your spiritual gifts story? Read Eric's...

Just last month, Theresa and my daughter, Annie finished up a "Your Divine Design" small group. My wife, daughter, and 12 of her friends came over for 6 weeks to discover and develop their spiritual gifts. Let me tell you, it was such a blast watching all these young professionals discover how God has wired them for Kingdom impact.

It was such a rich time of growing that I couldn't help but share one of our guy's story with you. Let me introduce you to Eric. Here's his story on how he discovered his spiritual gifts:

When I first heard about spiritual gifts I thought it was some type of Christian Magic. Something you could only get if someone prayed over you or prayed for you to receive the gift. Later on in life I learned this wasn't true but the idea still kind of stuck with me. I'd taken a few online tests here and there in hopes to uncover my spiritual gift but was only discouraged with the sheer number of gifts I had.

 

Fast forward MANY years later. I'm a stronger Christian than I was back then and the idea of Spiritual Gifts come up again in my life. This time I decided to take a closer look and really see what the Bible says about them. I poked around here and there and finally again, give up in discouragement.

 

A few weeks later I got invited to join a small group discussion on Spiritual Gifts using Chip Ingram's "Your Divine Design" series. After the very first gathering I knew this was going to be different and for the first time in my life I had hope and excitement about discovering what my gift is.

 

The "Your Divine Design" series rocked my world to put it bluntly. So many times I felt people just dumped a bunch of gifts in front of me, or as Chip says "I'd walk up to the spiritual gift salad bar", and told to pick which ones I wanted today or this week, or whatever.

 

Instead though these lessons took me in a complete circle where I learned why I have a gift, where my gift came from, what my gift is and how I can use my gift. Also the biggest lesson for me was the teaching from the bible directly about how this is all laid out. Chip teaches that I have one primary gift which can manifest itself to look like other gifts and he breaks this up into 3 major areas. Each major area plays a very important role in our use and development of our Spiritual Gift.

 

For me I learned that Exhortation, also known as Encouragement, is my gift. The moment I figured this out,with guidance from the lessons and my small group, it was like the path before me was blown clear of any debris. I finally knew my gift and better yet I understood this gift's purpose and how I am supposed to use it for His Kingdom.

 

Everyone has a Spiritual Gift, or Gifts, but it's knowing what they are, knowing why they are important and knowing how to avoid Spiritual Gift Abuse (another VERY important topic discussed) really makes you a more well rounded Christian. Why? Knowing what my Spiritual Gift is has taken a lot of pressure off of me. I no longer worry why some activities don't fulfill me, or why I don't have the passion some of my friends have to A, B or C. Knowing what my gift is has allowed me to find those ministries and life activities which allow me to use my gift and thus fulfill me.

 

So if you don't know what your Spiritual Gift is, or confused about the whole thing, or just hearing about it for the first time. Stop, grab the series, and starting learning about Your Divine Design!

 

Thanks!

Eric (www.jonese.us)

 

So... what's your story? How did you discover your spiritual gifts? Post a comment or two... I'd love to hear how God is working in your life!

Keep Pressin' Ahead-

Chip

Comments

[SKN]

God called me to a ministry that was "outside of my comfort zone" & how exciting its been to allow Him, along w/ the Holy Spirit, to work thru me. Someone once said, "God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called". I've totally enjoyed being a Bible Study Fellowship discussion leader! This ministry is a combination of leading others & encouraging. : ) Thanks for allowing God to use you, Chip! Love your radio progam, when I can "tune in".

[Barbara Hotsinpiller]

Thanks for doing the spiritual gift series, and going into detail about the spiritual gift abuse. I've encountered this and felt that I wasn't equiped to judge whether the person was overstating their position and abusing it to be controlling, but now I understand that God WAS giving me discernment through scripture and I wasn't "judging" the person, but becoming accutely aware of the person's manipulation and control was out of alignment. Which made me flee. Your series has helped me tremendously, and I pray it will bless others to become aware and to use the scriptures as the foundation of discernment in this and other schemes of the devil.

[Sister Susanne Kullowitch]

Dear Chip,
My spiritual gift is to give encouragement to those who feel they can't take life anymore.
I also am gifted to see the talent in others and to bring that to thier attention so as they know that God is using thar gift for the benefit of the world.
Thank you for this powerful ministry that you are doing for God's glory.
Sister Susanne Kullowitch