So our church gave us the opportunity to do a spiritual gifts test about a month ago. It was much different than any I have ever taken before, so I figured why not? This specific test is called Gift Quest Inventory: Discovering Your Motivating Spiritual Gifts. There were 40 groups of 4 questions each, in which I had to say which statement was the MOST like me, and which one was the LEAST like me, and leave the other statements blank. Sounds easy, but I had to do it over the course of about 2 weeks because I could only handle it in small chunks.
Anyway, yesterday I got my results for the test. It's pretty crazy how accurate it was.
My Primary Gift is Perception (aka Prophecy)
My Secondary Gifts are Administration and Giving
but let's focus on Perception...
The GOOD:
Those possessing this gift have an inner prompting and ability to perceive what is right and wrong, good vs. evil, or true vs. false. They are gifted to perceive, proclaim, promote, and pray about the will of God. They possess an intense desire to correct what they see as wrong. Perceivers are usually quick to come to and express their perceptions, thoughts, and ideas verbally. They possess an inner prompting to bring others to a point of accountability and conviction. Those gifted are frequently able to perceive when someone or something is not what they or it appears to be. Considered the "eyes" of the Body of Christ, they are gifted with spiritual sight.
...they are willing to suffer for what they perceive as "right." They have refreshing openness when speaking of what they see in themselves as well as others.
...Those gifted have a zeal relating to themselves and others for total commitment and outward confirming evidences of commitments made. They posses a special persuasiveness in defining and convincing others regarding what is right and wrong.
...Those gifted have an intense desire for justice to be done. They can be loyal to truth, even if it means cutting off relationships. They can possess the strength of character to not be respecter of persons.
GOOD or BAD?
...Those gifted tend to make quick judgements relating to what they see and hear. they tend to express their views, perceptions, and ideas before others speak.
The BAD
...Those gifted may try to assume a seemingly unlimited realm of personal responsibility. They may regress into a tendency to jump to hasty conclusions regarding the meaning of words, actions, and motives of others. They may make broad generalizations based on few known facts. They tend to look for confirming evidence to support hasty conclusions.
...Those gifted may regress into pointing out problems while not working on solutions. In this, they may emphasize judging and exposing rather than the restoration of individuals. They can react harshly to what they perceive as sin, and may lack cautiousness and tact in the expression of their opinions.
...Those gifted have the potential for extreme self-criticism and condemnation if and when they experience personal failure. They have great difficulty separating the sinner and his sin. Both may be rejected with equal force. They may adopt a negative approach to life.
Yeah, I underlined what I think describes me in the BAD section. No question there. Its stuff that I already knew about myself, and that I'm trying to work on - like the cautiousness and tact in the expression of opinions. I'm sure many can attest to my lack-there-of in some situations, in which I have hurt others (or my relationships with others) pretty severely. I feel like I've been better about this lately - being able to hold my tongue a lot more, to really think about what I'm saying and how it may affect the other person, and change the way I state my opinion (or just choose not to state it if I don't think I can do it well) no matter how opinionated I am about it.
However, I think I could also stand to use this giftedness MUCH more within the context of where it is good - sharing the gospel and speaking truth into the lives of others. It's one of those things...when I don't do it like I should I feel totally purposeless. I suppose that's the way it is with anyone who's giftedness is just sitting there not being put to good use. I need to dig up the talent I've buried and use it more.
