Spiritual Gifts

The New Testament assumes something about you: that God has equipped you with specific gifts for the benefit of others. This isn’t flattery or motivational language. Paul writes to three different churches about spiritual gifts, and each time the underlying point is the same. The body needs every part to function.

But knowing that gifts exist is different from knowing what yours are.

Most people have a rough sense. They notice that certain ministry tasks feel natural where others feel like hard work, that they seem to carry something particular in prayer or in conversation or in the way they organise people toward a goal.

The best way to start to consider your spiritual gifts is by asking one or two trusted friends what gifts they see in you.

Another way is to use a spiritual gifts assessment tool, which can take your rough intuition and give it shape, and may confirm what your friends have discerned too.

Two reliable options are worth your time.

gifts.churchgrowth.org runs a survey developed by the Church Growth Institute. It covers a broad range of gifts drawn from the primary New Testament passages and produces a scored profile across multiple categories. The length is appropriate for the seriousness of the question. It doesn’t rush you.

giftstest.com takes a more streamlined approach. The questions are direct and the results give you both a primary gift and a broader profile to reflect on.

Neither tool should have the final word. They are starting points, not verdicts. The value isn’t in the score but in the conversation it opens: with yourself, with people who know you well, and with your church community. Gifts are confirmed in use and in community. A test can point you toward a door, but only serving alongside others will tell you whether you’re meant to walk through it.

Take one. Then bring what you find back into relationship, prayer, and active ministry.