More on Re-taking the God Gifts You Spiritual Gifts Assessment

Case Studies: Person 1 and Person 2

Recently, I noted one person (Person 1) having taken the GodGiftsYou free spiritual gifts assessment once and then again 30 minutes later. A second person (Person 2), whose first results arrived 18 minutes after person 1, also took the assessment again 18 minutes later. Perhaps these two are friends and had a discussion about their initial results and determined to retake the test. I do hope that, if this is true, their conversation was helpful, revealing and productive. Ultimately, I hope that both saw the truth in their top results and are spurred on to faithfulness in using their gifts to God’s glory and for the greater health of the Body of Christ. An analysis of their results follows:

Person 1:

Of the top eight/seven results, five are the same: Shepherding, Teaching, Discernment, Exhortation, and Hospitality. Wow. What a fabulous combination. The remaining ones on test one were Mercy, Knowledge, and Wisdom. It is possible that some of the questions for Wisdom and Knowledge seemed enough the same as those aiming at Discernment that Person 1 answered higher the first time around for all three of those gifts. [See blog post comparing Knowledge, Leadership, and Wisdom. See blog post comparing Discernment and Exhortation. Also see PDF providing a basic definition of each gift and/or purchase the God. Gifts. You.: Your Unique Calling and Design six-week workbook giving a two-page definition—with checklists—for each of the 23 gifts found in Scripture.] The remaining gifts on test two were Leadership and Prophecy. The Leadership gift either now appears as a gift, or Person 1 was disappointed that Leadership is not in his first set of results and consciously or subconsciously answered these questions more in the affirmative than in the first round. Prophecy, on the other hand, does not often appear out of nowhere. So, looking at Person 1’s first total list of gifts, Prophecy, in fact, does appear just one point down from the top list. Perhaps Prophecy is a gift but less-used for whatever reason in this season; perhaps Person 1 has a strong personality, a passion for truth, and a tendency to express himself with candor. These might all sound like Prophecy but may not be. Thus, the lower-than-top score for that gift for Person 1.

Looking at the bottom-scoring gifts for round one, Person 1 had six with combined scores of 5 or less, and five with 5 or less in round two. Of those, three are the same in both results: Apostleship, Craftsmanship, and Miraculous Powers. Person 1 can be reasonably assured that these are not things that God has gifted him to do in this season. Of the total list of non-gifts from both lists, none are ones that scored highly either of the two times.

 Person 2:

 In both cases for Person 2, the scoring break landed with 8 gifts at the top. Seven of those eight are identical in each set of results: Mercy, Craftsmanship, Exhortation, Faith, Hospitality, Knowledge, and Shepherding. The two (one on list 1; one on list 2) that are outliers if you will are Helps and Giving. In many ways, these can seem similar in that the impulse is to be generous with resources—in one case (Helps) with time, talent, and energy, and in the other (Giving) with physical or monetary resources.

Regarding the non-gifts results, six scored 5 or lower for test 1; five for test 2. Of those, four are the same: Apostleship, Miraculous Powers, Healing, and Artistic Expression.

Recommendations:

 Person 2 likely has somewhat more clarity than Person 1, only needing to further explore the difference between the gifts of Helps and Giving. Otherwise, asking the Lord to help him understand, see opportunities to use and develop, and lean into his gifts in the power of the Holy Spirit is both his next step as well as the rest of his lifelong journey of discipleship to Christ and commitment to the church, His Body.

Person 1 would do well to initially give most of his focus to the five gifts that are identical in both of his results: Shepherding, Teaching, Discernment, Exhortation, and Hospitality. These could be used individually, in pairs, or in combination together. Discernment and Hospitality will show up wherever Person 1 shows up with the eyes and heart of Jesus. In situations of Teaching, Person 1 will most likely be experienced by his listeners/class as an Exhorting Shepherd. In fact, Person 1, when presented with teaching opportunities can use these five gifts as a filter for his yeses and nos. Is it an opportunity to lean into these strongest gifts or a class that does not offer the chance for him to shepherd and exhort?

For the remaining ones—Mercy, Knowledge, and Wisdom on list 1 and Leadership and Prophecy on list 2—Person 1 should reach out to at least three, preferably five, people who know him well (in a variety of contexts) and ask them what they think. It can be useful to provide a list of gifts and definitions and ask each person to choose the top five they think Person 1 exhibits. Our gifts should be evident to others! We might think we have a gift like Mercy, but others will be able to tell us if we truly do—they have either experienced us as merciful or not. Same with Wisdom. People will know if they seek out Person 1 for advice and wise counsel or not.

For both test-takers, going back to read or reread the definitions of each of their gifts can also be clarifying. Ultimately, now is the time to explore and use them, not to spend endless hours debating one or two. The enemy would love to keep us distracted on that rabbit trail so we are less effective and disengaged from actual ministry.

Pray. Seek the Lord’s leading. Find where He is already active ahead of you. Get involved. See what He will do in and through you in the power of His Spirit. You’ll be amazed. You have gifts to use. Go. Do it.

Shirley Giles Davis, author of the God. Gifts. You. Your Unique Calling and Design workbook, Your Unique Design Class Guide, Your Unique Design Facilitator Guide, and Gifts-Calling-Purpose blog, is a consultant, coach, facilitator who has worked with hundreds of faith-based organizations, nonprofit agencies, and executive leaders in a diversity of fields for four decades. She currently serves as Catalyst for Equipping and overseer of Local Missions at her church.

Photo © Shirley Giles Davis.

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