spiritual gifts.

A few weeks ago I was talking with a friend about spiritual gifts.  All throughout the New Testament we see that God's Holy Spirit in us gives us gifts and works through us in particular ways to get God's work done on earth to advance His Kingdom.  Of course, these gifts through which God works in us are our spiritual gifts.

1 Corinthians 12 | Romans 12 | Ephesians 4 | 1 Peter 4

The best way to know which gifts have been given to you is through the affirmation of other believers.  This means that if other believers see that you are a huge help to those around you, you have the spiritual gift of serving; if you help keep the spirits up of those around you, other believers can affirm that you have the spiritual gift of encouragement; and so on.  There are many, many spiritual gifts.  Here's the thing: just as the passage says in 1 Corinthians 12, every gift is given to help the Body of Christ and without your gift and your place in the Body, the Body cannot function properly.  It's not fair to compare your gift of encouragement to someone else's gift of administration (and vise versa) because those are two completely different gifts that have two completely different roles in eternity.  That being said, my friend shared with me a website that organized a test to see specifically what spiritual gifts belong to you.  It is best to be affirmed by others, but this site can give you idea of what gifts God has blessed you with and how you can use them effectively within the Body.  To get the most accurate results, remember to answer truthfully ;) Here is the website; post your results below and ask your closest friends and family if these results are head-on.  Tell me what you think about your results, too!

Here are my top three:

1. Discernment (34)
2. Administration (32)
3. Wisdom (30)

What others said about my results:

I asked a few friends, including my husband, about what they thought about these as my gifts.  Especially my hubbub - who spends the most time around me - said that these were indeed pretty accurate.  Even before taking the test, Frank has told me regularly that he thinks two of my spiritual gifts are discernment and wisdom.  I know how to approach all types of situations, and the wisest way to do so to avoid conflict or error; I understand people very quickly and can tell a lot about them very soon after meeting them; I am very observant of others and things around me; I know the right words to say to get a point across clearly and without offending another person; I can see what important in each situation and what is not; justice is my value.  And because of these gifts, I also know what words to say to comfort someone, or to help someone; I know what actions to do that would mean the most to another.  The descriptions for every spiritual gift is given on the website.

What I say about my results:
Yeah, I can see that... ;) And it's good to have a word to put with the gifts I already knew God had given me.

So what are your spiritual gifts? What's your place in the Body of Christ?

{Courtesy of Frank; taken in an old German cathedral}