As a Christian leader you’ve probably been asked this question multiple times.  If your answer was “I’m not sure, or I don’t know”, the encouragement to take a “spiritual gifts test” likely followed.

It is good to know your spiritual gifts, and sometimes taking a test can clarify what your gifts may be.

But, if discovering your giftedness stops at knowing your spiritual gifts, you have an incomplete picture of how God has equipped you to be a leader.

In my last blog I defined a leader as someone who has “God-given capacity”.  What do I mean by that?  Simply that God invests in leaders what they need to lead.  Undoubtedly spiritual gifts are part of that, but God’s investment in our lives goes far beyond that.

We are all born with “natural abilities” – those things that come “naturally” to us. As we go through life we also acquire hundreds of skills – everything from reading and writing, to understanding how to think strategically.  When we become a Christian, God gives us spiritual gifts.

All three of these things are God’s investment in our lives. They are our “giftedness set” and make up our “God-given capacity”.

As God develops us as leaders, He desires to bring us to a place where His investment in all three elements of our giftedness work together in such a way that we can be all we can be for His Kingdom purposes.

By Karl Mueller

Karl Mueller is the Senior Consultant for Church and Leadership Services for Development Associates International.

Original article: www.frontiersusa.org/blog/article/what-is-your-spiritual-gift