Gifts of the Spirit

Everyone has spiritual gifts. Lists of these gifts are found in Romans 12:4-8; I Corinthians 12:7-10 and Ephesians 4:11. For the purpose of this exercise, only some specific gifts will be measured. These are: Leadership, Administration, Teaching, Knowledge, Wisdom, Prophecy, Discernment, Exhortation, Shepherding, Faith, Evangelism, Missions, Service/Helps, Mercy, Giving, Hospitality. A spiritual gift is therefore a special ability - given to the believer by God (I Corinthians 12:11, 18) and is an empowerment from God (I Peter 4:11; Philippians 2:13; Ephesians 3:14-16, 20).

It is important that everyone discover what their predominant spiritual gifts are. They will find that doing tasks related to their gifts will energize them and help them be more adept at "doing what comes naturally." Paul tells Timothy to not neglect the gift within him (I Timothy 4:14). Neither should we.

We are also told to be good stewards of the spiritual gifts God has bestowed upon us (I Peter 4:10). As members of a functioning body (the church), each gift is necessary to making the body work as it should. If this happens as God ordained it to be, the church will grow and mature (Ephesians 4:12-16) and God will be glorified (I Peter 4:10, 11).

Some points to remember: Every Christian has at least one spiritual gift. No Christians has all the gifts (I Cor. 12:28-30). We cannot choose our gifts (I Cor. 12:7-11). There is no spiritual gifts which every Christian possesses (I Cor. 12:29,30). Spiritual gifts indicate God's call and purpose for a believer's life (Rom. 12:2-8). All gifts must be used with love (I Cor. 13:1-3). Spiritual gifts can be abused so they must be checked and tempered (I Cor. 14:1-33).

Directions:

On the survey beginning on the next page, place a score between 1 and 5 on the corresponding line of each Statement. If the question/statement/characteristic is most like you, place a response number 5 on the line or place a response number 1 on the line if the sentence is least like you - with the other numbers in-between. In other words, 5 = definitely typical of you, 4 = usually you, 3 = true of you 50% of the time, 2 = not really typical of you, 1 = not at all typical of you. Answer all questions (1 to 128).

Proceed to the Questions >

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Adapted from Vero Beach Church of Christ's Spiritual Gifts Inventory