In our last post, we talked about using the gifts we’ve been given. Too often we bury our talents out of fear. But God calls us to use the gifts He’s given us to further the Kingdom.
This is great and all, but how do we use our gifts if we don’t even know what they are?
“Use your gift” is useless advice if you have no idea what yours is; and most people genuinely don’t.
I’ve always loved writing. I wrote my first “book” when I was in fifth grade about a magic locker, and in college, I wrote another more serious novel. I’m currently toying with the idea of a Christian fiction novel, too. Fiction had always been my forte, but it turned out writing wasn’t just something I loved. It was something God wanted to use.
One week at church, James and I went to the front for prayer and out of nowhere, the woman on the prayer team said, “You write, don’t you?” Immediately, I broke down crying because I knew God wanted me to write for Him, but I didn’t know exactly how.
That was the moment God planted the idea of ARMR Collective in my mind.
And now here we are over a year and a half later.
The Gift That Comes Easy
If you’re like me, I always assumed a “real” gift should feel impressive or difficult. I discounted my own gift of writing because it didn’t feel important. But a real gift tends to fly under the radar.
Think about what you do without being asked. The need you notice that other people walk past. The thing people already come to you for without quite knowing why.
The easy ones hide because if it doesn’t cost us anything, we assume it isn’t valuable. But that’s not how gifts actually work.
Romans 12:6 says, “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.”
Each and every one of us has a spiritual gift whether we know it or not.
The Personality-Test Trap
As soon as I heard about spiritual gifts, you bet I was Googling a spiritual gifts quiz. This test can be genuinely helpful to identify what gifts you may have, but it’s a door, not an answer.
The quiz hands you a label, not a calling. It can name an ability but can’t tell you where the body actually needs it.
For example, the spiritual gift of pastoring can take shape in many different ways. Technically, ARMR Collective is the embodiment of my spiritual gift of pastoring. Pastoring doesn’t always mean planting a church and preaching every Sunday.
Instead of placing all our bets on an online quiz, look toward the evidence. What fruits are produced? What confirmation have you seen from using your gifts?
The Gift That Doesn’t Look Spiritual
Growing up, I always wanted a “cool” spiritual gift like prophecy or discernment.
I think a lot of us who grew up in the church think the “cool” gifts are the only ones that can make an actual impact.
But every single gift is important. Administration, hospitality, faith, presence, follow-through—these are the gifts the church quietly tries to rank beneath prophecy and the platform.
1 Corinthians 12 says the body doesn’t work that way. Every part needs the others; the eye can’t tell the hand it’s unnecessary. And the parts we’re quickest to overlook, Paul says, are the ones the body can’t do without.
Church cultures that celebrate visible gifts teach the rest of the body their gifts are second-tier.
But that’s just not true.
In the last post, the lie was “I’m not good enough to use my gift.” Here it just changes costumes: “my gift isn’t good enough to matter.” Same fear. It just moved from you to the gift.
Confirmation Comes From the Body, Not the Mirror
Discovering our spiritual gifts isn’t a solo practice. Yes, we can suspect which gifts we might have, but we can’t fully confirm it alone. The body reflects it back to us. No online test can tell you for certain.
I had suspected I was meant to use my knack for writing to further the Kingdom, but it wasn’t until I heard, “You write, don’t you?” from someone on the prayer team that I fully realized it. I hadn’t claimed it myself yet. For me, this was the body confirming a gift I couldn’t name on my own.
And confirmation of a spiritual gift isn’t always some spectacular, singular moment. Sometimes, it looks like people thanking you for the thing you barely notice doing. The same request landing on your plate again and again. A gift other people saw in you long before you realized it.
The point is that confirmation usually arrives from outside, unprompted. Not from you deciding you’re gifted.
But there is a line between confirmation and approval-seeking. Healthy confirmation is the body reflecting something true back to you. Performance-for-approval is doing the gift in order to be told you’re good at it.
The difference here is whether you’re serving or auditioning.
1 Peter 4:10 says, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”
We’ve been given gifts to serve the body, which is the same body that confirms the gifts in the first place.
The First Use Is the Test
Recognizing and confirming spiritual gifts is only the start. To fully identify a gift, we have to use it. Discovery that stays in our heads isn’t finished. Our gifts get confirmed the moment we actually put them to work, not the moment we name them.
I can say I have the gift of exhortation all day long, but if I never use it, I won’t know for sure.
And this isn’t to say, “Everyone go launch something right now!” Start small. Offer the thing once. Say yes to the ask you usually deflect. We need to lower the bar to a single step, because the fear that whispers “not yet, not ready” loses its grip one small yes at a time.
Two different problems, same result. Last post, the gift stayed buried out of fear. This one, it stayed buried because we never knew what it was. Either way, it goes unused.
And on both sides, the answer is the same. Use it.
I didn’t feel ready when that woman said, “You write, don’t you?” But I started anyway. A year and a half later, this gift is still being used.
Take the leap, and let God guide your landing.
