As a mentor, church staff member, or small group leader, one of your privileges is to add to the Lord’s labor force by helping others discover their spiritual gifts. What follows is a list of 7 questions you can use with a protégé, in a new members’ class, with a small group, or in the final session of a course on spiritual gifts.
DISCOVERING YOUR SPIRITUAL GIFT
Your spiritual gift is a gracious provision from God that enables you to serve Him in the church, community, and world for His glory (1 Peter 4:10-11). It is the capacity or enablement for service that fits the way he put you together. Every Christian has been given at least one such gift or capacity (1 Cor. 12:7). The specific lists of gifts contained in the New Testament –in 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4, Romans 12, and 1 Peter 4—may be representative of capacities for service that God gives, rather than a closed or exhaustive list. Prayerfully consider the following questions.
1. What do I enjoy doing for the Lord or for other people?
2. What ministry efforts has God apparently blessed in the past? In the realm of service, when have I most sensed His presence and His power?
3. How have others encouraged or complimented me in relation to ministry?
4. In what ministry settings or venues am I most comfortable?
5. What needs in my church or community is God prompting me to meet?
6. What ministry burden or passion has God given me? What piece of God’s heart for the church, community or world do I carry?
7. What areas of ministry involvement have spurred my own spiritual growth?
How could you explain or illustrate each of these questions so the person or group with whom you are working better grasp their meaning?
What gift discovery questions would you add to this list?
DISCOVERING YOUR SPIRITUAL GIFT
Your spiritual gift is a gracious provision from God that enables you to serve Him in the church, community, and world for His glory (1 Peter 4:10-11). It is the capacity or enablement for service that fits the way he put you together. Every Christian has been given at least one such gift or capacity (1 Cor. 12:7). The specific lists of gifts contained in the New Testament –in 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4, Romans 12, and 1 Peter 4—may be representative of capacities for service that God gives, rather than a closed or exhaustive list. Prayerfully consider the following questions.
1. What do I enjoy doing for the Lord or for other people?
2. What ministry efforts has God apparently blessed in the past? In the realm of service, when have I most sensed His presence and His power?
3. How have others encouraged or complimented me in relation to ministry?
4. In what ministry settings or venues am I most comfortable?
5. What needs in my church or community is God prompting me to meet?
6. What ministry burden or passion has God given me? What piece of God’s heart for the church, community or world do I carry?
7. What areas of ministry involvement have spurred my own spiritual growth?
How could you explain or illustrate each of these questions so the person or group with whom you are working better grasp their meaning?
What gift discovery questions would you add to this list?
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