Welcome to Buoy, a Life in Deeper Water podcast.

Episode 28. What Spiritual Gift Did God Give You? (I am crazy joyful about mine)

(click here to listen now)

Hello human.

Do you know what your primary spiritual gift from God is? I am going to share mine, but first, do you remember the verse I said was my request for all the humans who jump on this BUOY podcast from time to time?

Here it is again:

Ephesians 1:17

17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

 

I want to know God better. I want you to know Him better, and I know that by doing this faith swim, I am drawing closer to Him, to know Him more deeply. And by knowing Him better, I know more about who He wants me to be, because He created me in His image.

If you didn’t know, I am on mywitness99 journey. By this, simply sharing my witness 99 times, weekly through this podcast, and making personal connections with people in my past, present, and future.  As of right now, this is a 2-year journey, to chronicle my witness—the outreach, the conversations, the lessons, insights, revelations of how God is divinely persuading me every day. Faith that rocks.

Divine revelation. What is being revealed to me along the way by God, that may “give me the Spirit of wisdom,” all for the purpose of knowing Him better, discovering my purpose, and helping others do the same.

Thank you for joining me on the buoy today.

Discovering My Ministry

Last year, I took one of our church’s Growth Track sessions, to discover my ministry. The purpose of a growth track is to grow spiritually, mature as a follower of Christ so as to serve others as God has willed for each of us.

To discover my spiritual gifts, we first reviewed what they are, and became familiar with them.

Paul tells us in his letter to the church in Rome:

Romans 12:6 – 8

6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your[a] faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead,[b] do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

 

Then, over the coming weeks, I completed a personal profile, and the first question was:  What are my spiritual gifts?

I answered: My primary spiritual gift is exhortation. My secondary gifts are:  Word of wisdom, Faith, Teaching, Evangelist

The Growth Track materials define exhortation as the ability to motivate God’s people to apply and act on biblical principles, especially when they are discouraged or wavering in their faith, the ability to bring out the best in others and challenge them to develop their potential.

I looked it up in Strong’s concordance for the Greek definition: The word used in Romans 12, verse 8 is:

παρακαλέω (par-ak-al-eh’-o)

to call to one’s side, call for, summon

to address, speak to, (call to, call upon), which may be done in the way of exhortation, entreaty, comfort, instruction, etc.

to admonish, exhort

to beg, entreat, beseech

to strive, to appease by entreaty

to instruct, teach

But my heart rested on the first one I read: “to call to one’s side, call for, summon

I was an arm-locker growing up, always ready to match stride for stride with a close friend.

Don’t you know human, that I am “calling you alongside” of me, to share this journey together? I am summoning your heart, no, actually, God is summoning your heart to “seek the Spirit of wisdom and revelation” to know Him better.

Maturity & Ministry

My primary spiritual gift is exhortation.

But let’s stop for a second, because an importance distinction was made in my growth track session that I want to share with you. The fruit of the Spirit is not our spiritual gifts.

Galatians 5:22-23

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

The fruit of the Spirit show maturity, in every follower of Christ. My maturity.

My spiritual “gifts” represent my ministry. And it is in this context that God clears our path to serve.

And I also learned that “the presence of the gift will produce a desire to function in that gift.” In other words, you can’t help yourself. I can’t help myself. I proved that throughout my career—teaching dance to amazing youth, and raising money for heart-worthy causes to help underserved individuals. But I was not using my spiritual gift to proclaim God’s name and nature. That doesn’t mean He wasn’t part of it, bringing goodness to others through me, but I was not growing as I could have—in my knowledge of Him, and my love for Him.

Growing My Spiritual Gift through My Witness

With exhortation as my primary spiritual gift, witnessing seems like such a natural way to share that gift. But what it is doing is teaching me about what exhortation actually is, and how it defines, empowers and boosts my witness. Here’s one insight.

It involves not talking. What? How does one exhort silently?

Encouraging someone is not just done with words. It is done with silence. The process of “calling to one’s side” requires a closeness, an emotional, and better, a spiritual intimacy.

Witnessing to others is not about my story, it is about my God. And it doesn’t have to start with God in my life. I am finding that it starts with God in the life of the person I am talking to.

It’s pretty ineffective to lay out my big life story without any point of reference to the person I am talking to. I am discovering and embracing the value of first mapping someone on a spiritual map.

Where are they in relation to God?

What level of awareness, connection to the spirit world do they have?

None at all, returning to, reclaiming, denying, contemplating?

God is teaching me how to use my spiritual gift with discernment in how I enter into that person’s life and join their spiritual journeys. Focus more on listening to someone’s story and figuring out where that person is spiritually rather than focusing on getting through my life story, and a gospel presentation, aka an altar call.

For me, witnessing is starting with questions the person already asks, and those they are willing to entertain. Letting God’s spirit work, understanding that the road to redemption has to be self-proclaimed. It’s personal.

To Call to God’s Side

Here are a few affirmations about how God is revealing a deeper understanding of encouraging others, a better path for my ministry:

I am not trying to convince someone of God’s goodness.

I am letting God show His love through me.

I am not trying to elevate myself to some spiritual higher ground.

I am letting God use me to elevate someone else to His kingdom.

I am not trying to provide all the answers to God’s nature.

I am letting someone experience God’s nature through my actions.

I am not trying to save someone.

I am loving someone so God can.

I am not trying to persuade someone to accept Jesus Christ.

I am sharing how God has divinely persuaded me. My faith in action.

I am not trying to do a life story dump on someone.

I am making a personal connection to someone’s story that has God’s undivided attention.

So, I am calling you alongside me, to do the same. The joy that God puts in my heart when my life is powered by my ministry is undefinable. And it will be for you, too.

It will look different in your life. To be clear, spiritual gifts are about discovering your ministry. If you know your spiritual gift(s) then this is about re-committing to God, for how He will guide you in growing your ministry.

It’s painfully easy to not serve others.

But people are lonely and feeling alone in this world. Survey data I recently reviewed from 2019 shows that 58% of Americans often felt like no one in their life knew them well. This fills me with sorrow. I am going to share more of this research profile, though not today, but as a way to help assure us that serving others, reaching out to make that connection is spiritually relevant. It is long overdue, and always God-worthy.

Your Spiritual Gift Will Change Your Life

Romans 12:6-8 lists spiritual gifts. Go back, read them. Also read, 1 Corinthians 12:8-10.

1 Corinthians 12:8-10

8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,[a] and to still another the interpretation of tongues.

 

Think about these spiritual gifts.

What is your primary spiritual gift from God? Asking God to activate your spiritual gift will change your life. It will change your perspective, your approach, and your presence on this earth.

Do you know what to do? I did, in fact, I have known what to do since college, to be honest and fair. But I put off acknowledging my spiritual gifts until now. I put off accepting them from God for a ministry, until now.

In Episode 29 I will share simple spiritual steps toward living in God’s purpose for your ministry. He has the plan. When you turn your face toward Him, you will hear His voice.