FIVE FIERCE TRUTHS is a new five-part series for your Fierce Calling journey…

FIERCE TRUTH #4 – YOU Have Been Entrusted with Fierce Spiritual Gifts

“…for God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable.” Romans 11:29

It was just your average weekday morning–grumpy kids, cold breakfast, missing socks. The usual chaotic routine of working motherhood going as planned until I opened the front door…

Staring in disbelief at the empty space in the driveway, I blinked in case I had fallen asleep standing up.

Nope. Wide awake. My Mustang was gone.

After the initial shock had worn off, we called the police and filed a report.

How could this happen?

About two weeks earlier, Brian and I were unloading groceries from the back of the car. We must have either left the keys dangling in the hatchback like bait or dropped them on the driveway or in the grass.

When I couldn’t find my keys, we changed the locks on the house and Brian parked his car right behind mine for two solid weeks.

The first night he didn’t, bam.

The car was later found stuck in a ditch. The police chalked it up to kids taking a joyride, but it didn’t feel joyful to us.

Friend, aren’t you glad the gifts God gives cannot be stolen from us?

What are Your Spiritual Gifts?

“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.”
1 Corinthians 12:4

I love counseling, teaching, and encouraging others. I’m compelled to help hurting people be set free, realize their true potential, and live out their calling and purpose.

I listen to their stories with a compassionate ear, share God’s truth, and pray with them–but I won’t offer to bake them a cake or organize their pantry.

Those are not my gifts.

How we have been gifted by God helps us serve Him and others. The Holy Spirit distributes spiritual gifts to us so we can all travel this journey of Kingdom work together.

There are people out there who feel lost, unloved, and unlovable and for every person who feels that way, there is someone who doesn’t feel that way anymore — someone who can give them the scoop about God’s truth.

It’s Time to Pull the Ribbon on Your Gifts

Have you unwrapped your gift?

Many women struggle with worth and value and maybe that’s you. You’ve yanked that ribbon but it just won’t break free.

Open your gift.

When you do, your entire perspective will change as you use your gifting to serve others.

Our worth and value are in Christ, and we can use our gifts to help others grab hold of that truth, too.

But what exactly are these gifts?

“There are actually three biblical lists of the ‘gifts of the Spirit,’ also known as spiritual gifts. The three main passages describing the spiritual gifts are Romans 12:6–8; 1 Corinthians 12:4–11; and 1 Corinthians 12:28.” gotquestions.org

We Are Gifted to Serve

In this post, we’ll focus on the motivational gifts found in Romans 12:6-8:

• Prophecy — Verbally declaring truth and bringing light to something hidden.
• Serving — Meeting the practical needs of people
• Teaching — Clarifying and explaining truth
• Exhorting — Encouraging and motivating others
• Giving — Investing in the work of God.
• Leading — Organization and administration
• Mercy — Empathizing with the hurts of others

Balancing Your Gift(s)

While studying counseling at Liberty University, I received an invaluable set of lecture notes by Dr. Ed Hindson on how to balance the above spiritual gifts. Continuing with the gifts found in Romans 12, it goes something like this:

• Prophesy/Preaching — Balancing truth with love
• Serving — Balancing helping others with expecting them to accept responsibility and accountability for their actions
• Teaching — Balancing information with life application
• Exhorting — Balancing hope with reality
• Giving — Balancing financial gifts with a willingness to serve
• Leading — Balancing organization with compassion
• Mercy — Balancing empathy with truth

If you’re not sure what your gifts are, does anything on the above list resonate with you? Sound like you?

Important PSA…

There are plenty of spiritual gift assessments available for exploring areas of giftedness. While they may be helpful, they are still just tools. Whatever the results of our spiritual gift assessments, God continues to equip us beyond our gifts at just the right time.

We serve a limitless God and He will direct our steps in limitless ways. Click To Tweet

“When God has a task that needs a laborer, He doesn’t go looking for one who has the right gifts. He looks for one who has an obedient heart, so He can accomplish the task through that person and receive all the glory.” – Henry Blackaby, What’s So Spiritual About Your Gifts?

We can rest assured we all have at least one spiritual gift (1 Peter 4:10-11). The point is that God gives them for us to encourage others in faith:

“First, note that ‘each has received a gift.’ Gifts are not for a few but for all, and every believer has abilities which the Holy Spirit has given and can use to strengthen others. And it is the supreme joy of life to discover what they are and then pour yourself out to others through these gifts. And you will find them if you really desire to be God’s instrument in bringing about faith and joy in other people. ” – John Piper

We have been gifted to bring about faith and joy in other people through the Spirit. The Spirit is generously poured out on us, so we can pour out His gifts of love on others.

We take joy in this, not to the glory of the gifts but to the glory of the Giver. Walk in the Spirit and seek a deep relationship with Him so His outpouring can flow like a river.

We are Entrusted as Stewards of His Gifts

Trust God in your fierce calling journey and He will equip you and provide all you need. Much of what you need is probably already in your hand.

Sharing our gifts will impact the world for Christ. That’s why we have them. We have been entrusted as stewards to use our God-given gifts where we work, shop, exercise, eat….

No matter what we do each and every day we can use our gifts right where we are. One body with many members using various gifts in various ways for all of our days here on earth…

What are your gifts?

Share about your spiritual gifts and how you’ve used them to serve.

If you haven’t been using your gifts, how can you begin using them today?

Featured photo by anna-earl-J-Jb1niw1j0-unsplash.