Just a Spirit Thing

This past weekend I got the chance to take a spiritual gifts class. I went into it wondering why it would take four hours...after all it's kind of like a personality test, right? Those take a half hour tops. Plus, I had already taken one of these tests a couple years ago. All I was looking for was to see if my gifts still matched up.

Once the class began it didn't take long for me to realize that this class was much more than just an allotted time to take a test in.

Spiritual gifts aren't about saying which box you fit into the most...although that does become our tendency. I know I do that all the time, but it's not necessarily a good thing. It's good to have a deeper understanding who I am, but I need to be careful not to box God in, in my life.

A spiritual gift is the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in your life. When you become a Christian, the Holy Spirit presents himself in your life in different ways. A spiritual gift is not an object or personality trait...it's a person--the Holy Spirit.

So what do we do then? We need to stay connected to Christ, stay surrendered to the transforming work of the Spirit, and stay obedient by serving others in love.

In the class we did go through an exercise to determine what are gifts are. It was based on what we thought about ourselves, what a small group might have affirmed in us, and what a ministry leader has seen and affirmed. My top three gifts ended up being all task related; Helps, Craftsmanship, and Administration. No real surprise, though it was a little discouraging for me to see that there was no leadership or shepherding or pretty much any relational gift that came up. The leaders of the class were great in helping me to see that my style of leadership may look different based on my gifts, but even without a so called leadership gift I can still be a leader. It's comforting to know that I can be who I am and still live with the purpose God has given me. There's no wrong or right mold--as long as I am connected, surrendered and obedient to God.

I'll end this post by giving a definition of my gifts and you can see if it sounds like me.

Craftsmanship: To design or build. The Holy spirit works through you to creatively design items to be used for ministry. The purpose is to enhance God's ministry. To enable ministry to take place by shaping or enhancing the environment of God's ministry. Someone with this gift 'molds and shapes the physical environment' where God's message can be considered. They may work with wood, cloth, paints, metal, glass, raw materials, or tools. They are skilled and enjoy working behind the scenes with their hands to create, design, or build tangible items.

Helps: To support others. The Holy Spirit works through you to support a ministry project or another person by assisting in the accomplishment of ministry tasks. The purpose is to accomplish the mission of the ministry. To free up others to accomplish the goals and mission of the ministry. People with the gift of helps serve others by meeting tangible and practical needs of the ministry. They serve with joy as they sense God's purpose and spiritual value in what they are doing.

Administration: To create structure. The Holy Spirit works through you to organize and execute plans to accomplish ministry goals. The purpose is to accomplish ministry or Church goals. A person with this gift charts a course that helps the ministry arrive at its desired destination, without wasting time, energy, effort, or personnel. They bring order out of chaos and a sense of flow to the process. They are able to plan, develop strategies, manage, and coordinate a variety of responsibilities. They effectively, execute, and assist in reaching ministry goals.