Did you know that as a Christian, you have spiritual gifts? And do you know what they are for?

It is one thing to believe in spiritual gifts in theory. It is another thing entirely to walk in them. The apostle Peter assumed that every follower of Jesus had something to work with:

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” (1 Peter 4:10)

Notice the assumption baked into that verse. Peter does not say, “If you happen to have a gift.” He says, “Whatever gift you have received.” He takes it for granted that you have one. And he says the way you steward that gift faithfully is by using it to serve others.

Paul makes the same assumption to an entire church:

“Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed... There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.” (1 Corinthians 12:1, 4-6)

Peter, Paul, and the broader witness of the New Testament all point to the same truth: spiritual gifts are part of the Christian life. Jesus himself operated in spiritual gifts, and then in Luke 9:1, he sent his disciples out to do the same things he had been doing.

So here is the working definition of spiritual gifts:

Spiritual gifts are empowerments given by the Holy Spirit to Christians to do the work of building up the church.

Think of them like a toolkit. A plumber has the right tools for plumbing. An electrician has the right tools for wiring. A nurse has the right tools for patient care. In the same way, God has called you to do meaningful work, and he has given you the supernatural tools to do it.

That work includes the Great Commission, going into the world to make disciples. It includes the call of Jesus to love and care for one another. Paul puts it like this:

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)

God created you, purposed you, and called you to do meaningful things in His Kingdom. But he did not ask you to do those things on sheer willpower or natural intelligence alone. Yes, he uses your natural abilities. And yes, he also gives you supernatural gifts to get the job done.

So, the question becomes practical. How do you discover the gifts God has given you? How do you grow them? And how do you put them to work? Let’s walk through three steps: discover, develop, and deploy.

1. Discover Your Spiritual Gifts

If God has given gifts to every believer for the sake of serving others, building the church, and extending His Kingdom on earth, then it matters that you know what yours are.

Before we go further, a word of caution. Some Christians get sidetracked. They become more obsessed with the gifts than with the Giver. They start chasing signs and wonders, when in scripture, signs and wonders follow believers. That is a sign of spiritual immaturity. Keep Jesus at the centre and the gifts in their proper place.

There is no single, exhaustive list of spiritual gifts in the Bible. Instead, the New Testament gives us several passages that point to different gifts working in different ways. The two main passages are Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12. Drawn from those texts and others, the gifts include things like: administration, discernment, evangelism, faith, giving, healing, hospitality, knowledge, leadership, mercy, prophecy, serving, speaking in tongues, teaching, shepherding, and wisdom.

How do you actually start identifying yours?

Read the lists in Scripture

Spend time in Romans 12:6-8 and 1 Corinthians 12:8-10. Read slowly. Ask the Holy Spirit to speak. Notice what jumps out at you, what brings you joy, what feels like a quiet “yes” in your spirit.

“We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.” (Romans 12:6-8)

As you read, what stirs in you? What feels less like a stretch and more like a fit?

Ask trusted Christian leaders and friends

Sometimes other people see the gifts in your life more clearly than you do. Ask a pastor, mentor, small-group leader, or mature Christian friend what they notice when you serve, speak, or show up. Their honest feedback often confirms something the Spirit has been quietly highlighting.

Pray about it

This is not a secret God is hiding from you. He gave you gifts to build up his church. Ask him plainly. Ask for clarity. Ask for confirmation. Then listen.

Notice where you are most effective and most passionate

When the church announces an outreach, where does your mind go? Are you drawn to the prayer team? Behind the scenes? Are you the one pushing for a clear evangelistic message? Are you wondering how to fund it? Are you ready to host people in your home? Pay attention to what energizes you and where you bear fruit. Both matter.

Pay attention to prophetic words spoken over you

Prophecy itself is a spiritual gift. One of its functions in the New Testament is to identify and impart spiritual gifts through the prophetic word and the laying on of hands. We see this clearly in Timothy’s life (1 Timothy 4:14). If trustworthy people in your life have spoken prophetic words over you, weigh them carefully and write them down.

Take an online spiritual gifts assessment

Online tools are not gospel truth, but they are useful. Take one with a pinch of salt and use the results alongside the other methods above. The convergence of multiple sources, scripture, prayer, the input of others, your own fruitfulness, and a good assessment, will give you a clearer picture than any one of them alone. You can take one here.

2. Develop Your Spiritual Gifts

Once you have a sense of your gifts, the next question is how to grow them. Because here is the truth: you must use your spiritual gifts in order to develop them, and using them is part of being faithful to Jesus.

Your gifts may feel small, untested, or not quite ready for prime time. That is okay. Almost everything in the Kingdom of God starts small and grows. Jesus said it like this:

“This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain, first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.” (Mark 4:26-28)

There is real grace at work here. Over time, through opportunities, setbacks, successes, and failures, God grows the gifts he has placed in you, often in ways you do not see. But there is also a side of development that is on you. Jesus made that clear in the parable of the talents in Matthew 25.

A master goes on a journey, but before he leaves, he entrusts three of his servants with different amounts of money. The first two put their resources to work and doubled them. The third hides his in the ground and produces nothing. The master commends the first two and rebukes the third. The principle is unmistakable: God entrusts us with things, including spiritual gifts, and he expects us to grow them.

Paul says it directly:

“Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church.” (1 Corinthians 14:12)

So how do you actually excel? Here are three practical pathways.

Learn from Scripture

Know what the Bible teaches about the gifts. How were they used? How were they misused? The same Spirit who empowered the New Testament church empowers us. Reading scripture with eyes open to the gifts will sharpen how you understand and steward yours.

Learn from others

Get close to people who minister well in the gifts you are growing in. That might be intentional mentorship or careful observation. You can learn a great deal about how to use a gift, and how not to, by watching others walk in it.

Learn from doing

Find a place to serve that uses at least one of your gifts. Muscles grow when you put them to work. Gifts grow the same way.

If your gift is hospitality, help cook meals for Alpha or lead a small group. If your gift is administration, come alongside the kids or youth ministry and ask what behind-the-scenes work needs to be done. If your gift is prayer or speaking in tongues, you should be in our prayer meetings.

And often, growth requires faith. If signs point to the gift of prophecy, you will need to step out and prophesy. If you sense God leading you to pray for healing, you will need to actually pray for the sick. You learn by doing, and doing usually takes courage.

Can you develop spiritual gifts outside of the church? For some gifts, yes. A strong administrator can sharpen that gift in many environments. The prophetic gift is harder to grow in isolation. But never lose sight of why God gives gifts in the first place, to serve others and build up his Church.

3. Deploy Your Spiritual Gifts

Now we come to the part where everything we have talked about gets put to work. We discover, we develop, and then we deploy.

Remember the why. Spiritual gifts are not the goal. Obedience to Jesus and bringing glory to God are the goals. 

In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul instructs the church on the role of spiritual gifts. He repeats the same theme over and over. They are for building up the church.

“The one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort.” (1 Corinthians 14:3)

“Try to excel in those gifts that build up the church.” (1 Corinthians 14:12)

“Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.” (1 Corinthians 14:26)

We use our gifts for others. We use our gifts to serve the church. We use our gifts so God gets glory, not us.

Some gifts attract more attention than others. Teaching gets noticed. Miracles get noticed. But would it not be just as remarkable to have the gift of wisdom? Or mercy? Or supernatural faith? Paul reminds us that the body of Christ needs every part:

“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body... Now if the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason stop being part of the body... God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be... You are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” (1 Corinthians 12:12-27, condensed)

Whatever gift God has given you, it belongs to Christ and his Church!