We know that we are fearfully and wonderfully made! We are commanded to praise the Lord as we acknowledge the wonder of how He individually saw and created us (Psalms 139:14). As part of praising and acknowledging the Lord for this, are you clear on your gifts, talents, and calling as part of the body of Christ and what role you play in the body?
The bible is very clear that in the body of Christ we each have a role to play (1 Corinthians 12:12). So often we are not clear on the unique gifts and talents the Lord has placed on our lives and so get into comparison where we covet or even just admire the gifts of others without acknowledging and leveraging the treasure within us. To fulfill the Lord’s purpose in our lives, not only do we need to be clear about that purpose but about the gifts he has already placed in us to fulfill this purpose.
We see in the bible there is the five-fold ministry offices: apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher (Ephesians 4:11). There are also the 9 spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12: 4-11) which are given as the Holy Spirit wills. We don’t decide what gift we need. The Holy Spirit equips us with the gifts we need to do the job in that time.
The 7 Motivational Gifts
Then there are the 7 motivational gifts which are described in Romans 12:6-8. These are different from the spiritual gifts; they are activities that God placed inside everyone. We will focus on discussing the 7 motivational gifts that are linked to your talents and personality as opposed to the spiritual gifts that are given as and when the situation requires.
Romans 12: 6 – 8 reveals that we each have different gifts, “… having gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.”
When the Lord created each of us, He put these gifts inside of us. We can have one, or a combination of these gifts. Even unbelievers have these gifts in them as these work in our personalities. Motivational gifts are actions, or what motivates people to action and are generally linked to our vocation. It manifests as a desire or a talent, a natural ability. As mentioned in Romans 12 above, these are prophecy, ministry (serving), teaching, exhortation, giving, leadership or administration, mercy or love.
Can you identify which motivational gifts or talents the Lord has bestowed upon you?
Below is a Brief Overview of Each Gift:
The Motivational Gift of Prophecy
The spiritual gift of prophecy, the ministry office of a prophet, and the motivational gift of prophecy are three different things. This motivational gift is more in the area of wisdom and being a visionary. This is seeing things in the future, not like fortune-telling, but being innovative. These people could be dreamers: what does the future hold? How can we improve things? For example, Elon Musk, but simply thinks differently. One of his motivational gifts is probably this prophecy gift, this thinking outside the box and innovative, seeing the future, and creating new technology.
The Motivational Gift of Ministry or Serving.
These people love to serve and are motivated by just wanting to help, in whatever way they can. They don’t want to be the leader or even necessarily be recognized. Often people in care professions have this motivational gift to help, to serve, and to minister! The word “ministry” literally means to serve or to help.
The Motivational Gift of Teaching
This is someone who can take something that seems complicated and explain it in a way that makes it simple and easy to understand. While some of these people are teachers by profession, it is more about enjoying explaining things and having a desire to help people understand. This does not have to be spiritual things.
The Motivational Gift of Exhortation, or Encouragement
These people just make you feel good about yourself when you are around them. These are good coaches! They build you up and make you feel like you can do anything! These are naturally optimistic people, and they will show others where their strengths are.
The Motivational Gift of Giving
Romans 12:8 “…He who gives, with liberality…” Often, people are very entrepreneurial, and are motivated by the desire to give. Others may accuse them of being greedy because their focus is on making money. However, many times their motivation is not greed, but giving.
The Motivational Gift of Leading
This is the person who says, “Okay, everyone, this is what we’re gonna do!” Leaders are the organizers; they are the ones to plan everything out. A leader will take chaos and create order out of the chaos.
The Motivational Gift of Mercy, or Love
People with the “mercy motive” don’t judge other people or point out their faults. They are just full of love and compassion for people. These are the people who will leave the 99 and find the 1. They will get emotionally connected easily and will sometimes be taken advantage of because they will love the unlovable.
A way you can tell what gifts you have are if those are the areas in which you have been attacked by other people. If they say, “You just love everyone. You’re too soft!” You most likely have the gift of mercy. Perhaps if people accuse you of greed, you have the gift of giving. The enemy will do anything he can to attack them in the area of their gifting because he’s terrified that they will actually use it.
Conclusion
You may operate in two or three of the motivational gifts at the same time or maybe one is prominent in you. David in Psalm 139 praises the Lord when He considers how ‘fearfully and wonderfully’ he is made! We need to acknowledge the gifts we have, or we won’t pursue the opportunities that will make good use of them. If you are in a place where you are not called, it can become very stressful because you are not in your lane. Allow the Holy Spirit to highlight and reveal your gifts and strengths to you! Leverage the talents within you as you praise the Lord by fully expressing all that He has created you to be!