BEFORE YOU START…Spend time in prayer asking God’s Spirit to guide you.
Thoughtfully read through each Gift Description that follows. Following each Gift Description, you are asked, “Do any of these describe you?” As you read over the five specific questions, consider whether any pertain to you. Do not respond based on what you think should be true or what you hope might be true in the future. For best results, be honest and answer on the basis of past experience. After considering how the questions apply to you, choose one of the three responses for each gift:

I’m SURE I have these gifts      I MAY have these gifts     I don’t think I have these gifts

ADMINISTRATION

Description: The special ability to organize and manage people, resources, and time for effective ministry. The ability to coordinate many details and execute the plans of leadership.

Do any of these describe you?

1. If a group you are in is lacking organization, do you desire to step in to help it run more smoothly?
2. Do you enjoy organizing ideas, people, resources and time for more effective ministry?
3. Have you ever made effective and efficient plans for accomplishing the goals of a group?
4. Are you able to give directions to others without persuasion to get them to accomplish a task?
5. Do you enjoy bearing the responsibility for the success of a particular task within the church?

APOSTLE

Description: The divine enablement to start new churches and oversee their development.

Do any of these describe you?

1. I have a desire to pioneer and establish new ministries or
2. I have the ability to adapt to different surroundings by being culturally sensitive and
3. I have a desire to minister to unreached people in other communities or
4. I seem to have a unique ability to give helpful leadership to several
5. I demonstrate authority and vision for the mission of the church.

CRAFTSMANSHIP

Description: Divine enablement for the creative design or construction of necessary tools for ministry.

Do any of these describe you?

1. Do you feel fulfilled when you can create something that helps one of the church’s ministries?
2. Can you visualize how something should be constructed before you build it? Can you form, develop, or adapt material resources to meet needs?
3. Do you enjoy working creatively with wood, yarn, metal, glass, etc.
4. Are you able to design and build things that help the church better care for people?
5. Can you fashion raw materials into desired object?

CREATIVE COMMUNICATION

Description: Divine enablement to communicate God’s truth through a variety of art forms.

Do any of these describe you?

1. In conversation, do others often say to you, “I have never thought about it that way before”? Do you like the challenge of communicating with variety and creativity?
2. Do you enjoy developing your skills in the arts: music, crafts, drama, photography, etc.? Do you constructively critique the performances and work of others?
3. Through your artistic expressions, do people recognize deeper truths about themselves, their relationships, and God?
4. Unless you are doing what you enjoy, do you generally have a short attention span?
5. No matter what you do, do you feel you could have done it better?

DISCERNMENT

Description: Divine enablement to distinguish right from wrong, truth from error, and to give an immediate evaluation based on God’s Word. The ability to know with assurance whether certain behavior purported to be of God is in reality divine, human, or Satanic.

Do any of these describe you?

1. Have others in the church noted that you are able to see phoniness before it is evident to others?
2. Is your “sense” that a person’s teaching is from God, Satan or of human origin later confirmed to be true?
3. Are you given affirmation by other Christians that you are able to distinguish spiritual untruth from supernatural insights?
4. Can you identify emotional and psychological factors that may be impacting a person?
5. Can you judge between the inadequate and the acceptable, or between evil and good?

ENCOURAGEMENT

Description: Divine enablement to present truth so as to strengthen, comfort, or urge to action those who are discouraged or wavering in their faith.

Do any of these describe you?

1. Have you verbally encouraged the wavering, the troubled, or the discouraged?
2. Can you effectively motivate people to get involved in ministry when such motivation is needed?
3. Have you met with people in their sufferings who told you later that they have been helped or relieved?
4. Do you have a desire to effectively counsel the perplexed, the guilty, or the addicted?
5. Have you urged others to seek a biblical solution to their affliction or suffering?

EVANGELISM

Description: Divine enablement to communicate the gospel with unbelievers in such a way that people respond in faith as Christ followers and move toward discipleship.

Do any of these describe you?

1. Do you enjoy sharing the gospel?
2. Do you relate to non-Christians? Are you at ease sharing how Christ has changed your life?
3. Do unbelievers understand you when you explain who Christ is and how to become a Christian?
4. Have you led others to Christ?
5. Do you get frustrated when others do not seem to share their faith as much as you do?

FAITH

Description: Divine enablement to trust God for what cannot be seen and to act on God’s promise, regard- less of what the circumstances indicate. The willingness to risk failure in pursuit of a God-given vision, expecting God to handle the obstacles.

Do any of these describe you?

1. When you are in a group, are you the person others often look to for vision?
2. Have you believed God for the impossible and seen it happen in a tangible way?
3. Have other people told you that you had faith to accomplish what seemed impossible to them?
4. Have there been times when you have felt sure you knew God’s specific will for the future growth of His work, even when others have not been so sure?
5. Do you depend upon God’s resources and guidance to an unusual degree?

GIVING

Description: Divine enablement to generously contribute material resources to the work of the Lord.

Do any of these describe you?

1. Do you seek to manage your money well in order to give liberally to the Lord’s work?
2. Do your giving records show that you give more than 10% of your income to the Lord’s work?
3. When you are moved to give to God’s work, do you usually find the money to respond?
4. Do you strongly agree with this statement: “I am so confident that God will meet my needs that I give to Him sacrificially and consistently?”
5. Are you willing to maintain a lower standard of living in order to benefit God’s work?

HELPS

Description: Divine enablement to invest your talents doing practical and necessary tasks to free up, support, and meet the needs of others, increasing the effectiveness of their spiritual gifts.

Do any of these describe you?

1. Have you assisted Christian leaders to relieve them for their essential job?
2. Have Christians told you that you have helped them become more effective in their ministries?
3. Do you enjoy doing routine tasks that lead to more effective ministry by others?
4. Is this true in your life: "When I do things behind the scenes and others are helped, I am joyful." and "I really do not care who gets the credit!"?
5. Would you rather be a supportive background person than an up-front leader or speaker?

HOSPITALITY

Description: Divine enablement to provide an open home and warm welcome to those in need of food, lodging and fellowship. The ability to help people feel accepted and comfortable in the church family.

Do any of these describe you?

1. Is your home usually open to people passing through, who need a place to stay?
2. Have others mentioned to you that you are a warm, helpful host/hostess?
3. Are you personally uplifted from hosting persons in your home?
4. Are you comfortable with opening your home to others regardless of how neat or clean it is?
5. Would you temporarily add someone to your family in order to provide a helping, healing ministry?

INTERCESSION

Description: Divine enablement to pray for extended periods of time on a consistent and regular basis and see frequent and specific answers to prayers, to a degree much greater than that which is expected of the average Christian.

Do any of these describe you?

1. When you hear a prayer request, do you pray at least several times for the need to be met?
2. Is intercessory prayer one of your favorite ways of spending time?
3. Have others told you that your prayers for them have been answered in tangible ways?
4. Do you find yourself praying for others and often losing track of time?
5. Are you confident that when you pray for others your prayers will have tangible results?

KNOWLEDGE

Description: Divine enablement to discover, accumulate, analyze, and clarify information and ideas which are pertinent to the growth and well-being of the Body. Knowledge has to do with the discovery of truth; wisdom deals with the application of truth to life.

Do any of these describe you?

1. Have others told you that you have helped them understand key and important facts of Scripture?
2. Do you enjoy studying and reading quite a bit in order to learn biblical truth?
3. Have you frequently discovered new insights into Scripture through personal study?
4. Do you enjoy doing word studies, examining the historical background of a text and getting at the facts of a passage in order to benefit yourself and other believers?
5. Do you long to share with others the biblical insights that you discover?

LEADERSHIP

Description: Divine enablement to clarify and communicate the purpose and direction (“vision”) of a ministry in a way that attracts others to get involved. The ability to motivate others by example to work together in accomplishing a ministry goal.

Do any of these describe you?

1. When I speak, people seem to listen and agree.
2. When I set goals, others seem to accept them readily.
3. When I join a group, others expect me to take the leadership.
4. When I am in charge, things seem to run smoothly.
5. I find it easy to motivate others to follow through on a ministry project.

MERCY

Description: Divine enablement to feel genuine empathy and compassion for individuals, both Christian and non-Christian, who suffer distressing physical, mental, or emotional problems, and to translate that into cheerfully-done deeds that reflect Christ's love and alleviate the suffering.

Do any of these describe you?

1. Do you desire to work with those who have physical or mental problems, to alleviate their suffering?
2. Do you enjoy visiting in hospitals and/or nursing homes, and feel you do well in such a ministry?
3. Would you enjoy spending time with a lonely, shut-in person or someone in prison?
4. Do you work joyfully with and help those people who are ignored by the majority of those around them?
5. Do you hurt for others who are in distress, and desire to do acts of love for those who cannot or will not return them?

SERVICE

Description: Divine enablement to identify the unmet needs involved in a task related to God’s work, and to make use of available resources to meet those needs and help accomplish the desired goals.

Do any of these describe you?

1. Do you respond cheerfully when asked to do a job, even if it seems menial?
2. Do you sense God’s purpose and pleasure in meeting every day responsibilities?
3. Do you attach spiritual value to practical service?
4. Do you enjoy knowing that they are freeing up others to do what God has called them to do?
5. Would you rather do a job than find someone else to do it?

SHEPHERDING

Description: Divine enablement to care for and nurture a group of believers toward ongoing spiritual maturity in becoming like Jesus and equip them for ministry. May not be a gifted preacher or teacher:

Do any of these describe you?

1. Do you enjoy relating to a certain group of people over a long period of time, sharing personally in their successes and failures and assuming responsibility for their spiritual wellbeing?
2. Have you helped individual believers, over a period of time, by guiding them to relevant portions of the Bible and praying with them?
3. Is it your desire to commit yourself sacrificially to care for the spiritual welfare of a group of young Christians? Shut-ins?  People in pain?
4. Would you be concerned about guarding, like a shepherd, a group of Christian sheep from those who are “wolves,” i.e., enemies of Christians?
5. Are you able to feed believers by guiding them through selected Bible passages?

TEACHING

Description: Divine enablement to understand, clearly explain, and apply the Word of God, causing greater Christlikeness in the lives of listeners. To communicate information relevant to the health and ministry of God’s people (children and/or adults) in such a way that others will learn and be edified. The ability to equip and train other believers for ministry.

Do any of these describe you?

1. Have people told you that you have helped them learn biblical truth in a meaningful way?
2. Do you enjoy giving considerable time to learning biblical truth in order to minister to children and/or adults?
3. When you communicate biblical truth to others, do you see changes in knowledge, attitudes, values or conduct?
4. Do you strongly agree with this statement: “Studying the Bible and sharing my insights with others for their growth in Christ are very satisfying for me?”
5. Can you make difficult biblical truths understandable to others?

WISDOM

Description: Divine enablement to understand God’s perspective on life situations and share true insights in a simple, understandable way. The ability to explain what to do and how to do it.

Do any of these describe you?

1. Have you applied spiritual truth effectively to situations in your own life?
2. When a person has a problem, are you usually able to guide them to the best biblical solution?
3. Have people indicated that you have perceived and applied biblical truth to their specific needs?
4. Have you sensed God's presence and direction when important decisions needed to be made?
5. Do others ask you for workable ideas or alternatives?

Review the gifts that you marked as “I’m SURE I have these gifts,” and select what you believe to be your strongest three gifts as your Dominant Gifts. Note also what you believe to be your next three strongest gifts as your Sub-Dominant Gifts. This will give you a tentative evaluation of what your Gifts might be. This is not meant to be scientifically accurate in order to determine your gift(s) once and for all.  Remember that the best way to discover your spiritual gifts is by your participation in ministry. As you experiment in various areas of service, examine your feelings, evaluate your effectiveness and expect confirmation from others.

Input your information into the "Gifts" portion of your DESIGN PROFILE

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