A Spiritual Gifts Test for Your Consideration
Dear Church Family,
I would like to invite you to take an online spiritual gifts test put together by Pastor Jeff Carver (info on him can be found here).
A few caveats: Spiritual gift tests are man-made and imperfect and obviously can’t substitute for our real-world experience and demonstrated fruit. Nothing can take the place of learning as you seek to serve and love. But while these kinds of tests cannot give us the full picture of our spiritual gifts, they can help us identify or confirm them.
Here is what I have found helpful about this particular test and the site where it is located.
- The listing and definition of spiritual gifts were biblically sound and reasonably described. (NOTE: Spiritual gift lists from the Bible were almost certainly not meant to be exhaustive.)
- The Introduction to Spiritual Gifts and the FAQs were well written and helpful.
- The test itself seemed workable and made sense with the gifts they are seeking to help one identify.
And so I encourage you to take this test and consider three things.
- Before you take the test, ask that the Lord would help you answer as objectively as you can and that He might use the test to help you learn about what gifts He's placed in you.
- Have one or two others, who know you well in the Lord, take the test about you, i.e., ask them to answer the questions while thinking of you — assessing your gifts — so that you can see your gifts from a different perspective. This might help you discover things more objectively than only on your own. (The test will allow anyone to delete their results and take it again or you can have them send you their results for you via email.)
- Please consider sending your results to me at aturner@livinghopefrederick.org. (The test will ask for an email to send results to.) I will make sure they get to Kim Sharp who is helping me compile information on spiritual gifts. We will be praying over you and your results as we consider how to help our church serve one another in love through our spiritual gifts.
Lastly, please consider filling out the LHCC Spiritual Gifts Questionnaire and sending it to me as well. It is a companion to the test and will help further assess your gifts.
Love to you all in Him!
Albert