Spiritual Growth: Your God-Given Gifts (1)

Book Review (Part 1)

Discover Your God-Given Gifts
by Don & Katie Fortune

You may have heard the fable of the Six Blind Men and the Elephant.
A group of blind men are led to an elephant and each grabs one part of the animal—side, tusk, trunk, leg, ears, and tail—and then describes the elephant in terms of the part he is holding—an elephant is like a wall, a spear, snake, tree, fan, and rope. Then they argue with each other about it, each insisting on his own perception as the only true description of an elephant.

We smile at the silliness of the argument and recognize that moral of the story is about the importance of diverse points of view. No one has all the answers, no one knows the complete picture, and it’s important to be humble and open to the ideas of others. So it is with diversity within the body of Christ. Each one of us brings our own perceptions to every situation.

Personality Types

Despite the truth of our "snowflake" uniqueness, psychologists have variously categorized the ways in which people are similar to one another. For instance, Carl Jung identified four personality "types" as a preference for thinking over feeling and sensing over intuiting. Perhaps you’re familiar with the Meyer’s Briggs Type Indicator (EI-SNTF-JP) which is based on Jung's work.

Within secular Learning Style Theory seven (or eight) different kinds of intelligence have been identified (e.g. linguistic, mathematical, spatial). In Christian circles, Tim LaHaye has researched and written about The Four Temperaments which were observed in ancient times. More recently, Gary Chapman has presented The Five Love Languages in his popular best-selling books.

So which model of personality is the very best?

Book Summary

In his loving wisdom, God has laid out for us the "mother of all Type Indicators" in the Bible. Found in Romans 12:6-8, Paul outlines a total of seven natural or “motivational gifts” given to humanity. Each of us is born with one strong motivational gift that shapes our personality; some people also exhibit a less dominant secondary gift.

Authors Don and Katie Fortune do a masterful job of explaining the characteristics of the seven Biblical motivational gifts in their book, Discover Your God-Given Gifts. The book’s easy self-tests help readers discover which of the seven Biblical “personality types” best describe them: Perceiver, Server, Teacher, Exhorter, Giver, Administrator, or Compassion.

Three Categories of Gifts in Scripture

The authors begin their book by giving some biblical perspective. They point out that there are three categories of gifts described in Scripture: the seven Motivational (natural) gifts described above; the nine Manifestation (supernatural) gifts outlined in I Corinthians 12; and the five Ministry (church leadership) gifts outlined in Ephesians 4:11. We are commanded to use our gift to benefit others, for it was designed by the Creator to overflow from us to those around us.

The authors also note that our gift can be observed in childhood, and like donning a pair of tinted glasses, our gift colors all we see and do. The authors’ fascinating research has shown that God bestows some of the gifts more frequently than others. For instance, there is a greater need for followers than leaders.

According to the authors, Scripture teaches that there are two distinctions within the motivational gifts, speaking gifts and serving gifts (1 Pet 4:11). Here is the authors’ outline of the gifts and their frequency of appearance in the Body of Christ. Remember that each gift is of equal value.

The Seven Motivational Gifts

4 SPEAKING GIFTS

● Perceiver 12% — Declares the Will of God (Spiritual)
The eyes of the Body.
● Teacher 6% — Researches and Teaches the Bible (Mental)
The mind of the Body.
● Exhorter 16% — Encourages Personal Progress (Psychological)
The mouth of the Body.
● Administrator 13% — Gives Leadership & Direction (Functional)
The shoulders of the Body

3 SERVING GIFTS

● Compassion 30% — Provides Personal Support (Emotional)
The heart of the Body.
● Server 17% — Renders Practical Service (Practical)
The hands of the Body.
● Giver 6% — Shares Financial Assistance (Material)
The arms of the Body.

Joy is the By-product

"The best way to measure whether or not you are operating in the sphere of your motivational gift is to take this simple test: Joy is the by-product of operating in your motivational gift. Frustration is the by-product of trying to operate outside it. Joy is always a byproduct of what is in the will of God for you. Joy can never be sought as a goal or an end in itself. But as you function in the giftedness that God has given you, you will have joy."—The Fortunes.

Barriers to Expressing Your Gift

The authors say a few of the reasons believers may not be expressing their motivational gift include lack of teaching, lack of spiritual feeding, spiritual bondage, anger, pressure to conform to a certain image, poor self-image, irresponsibility, and other sin. "God the Holy Spirit wants to be released into our lives to become that well of living water, the sap that flows as we abide in the vine. We have observed that the ongoing flow of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life invariably increases the pure and effective flow of his motivational gifts.”—The Fortunes.

My Reaction to This Book

This is one of my all-time favorite books! Its message unraveled the mystery of why at a party, some
of us prefer to sit in the living room to talk (and talk and talk), while others retreat to the kitchen to help with serving and clean-up!

Re-issued by Chosen Books in 2009, Discover Your God-Given Gifts has been updated, revised and expanded. I bought my original copy in the early 1990s and it has occupied a place of honor on my bookshelf for many years. In fact, I own several lending copies, and I just bought a copy of the newest version. Yes, sisters, it's that good!

The ideas are presented with skill and common-sense, and the self-tests and charts are easy to understand. I've learned why I think and act the way I do; my primary and secondary gifts; how to overcome conflicts with others; and what careers and ministries suit me best.
To use the authors’ words, "understanding our gifting has much to do with whether life is fulfilling or frustrating, fun or frantic."

Amazon.com's reviews of this must-have book are here. Other Discovery books in the series include Discover Your Children’s Gifts and Discover Your Spouse’s Gifts.

Your God-Given Gifts (Part II)

In my next post, I will present an in-depth discussion of TWO of the motivational gifts outlined by the authors: Administrator (a speaking gift) and Giver (a serving gift). I’ll look at the character traits associated with each gift, typical problem areas, and biblical characters who demonstrate these gifts. I will also offer a sample of one of the book’s self-tests. Please stop by Chrysalis again!

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. (1 Cor 12: 12-14 ESV)

Photos: Google Images. o2ma2 & alton (Flickr)



Up Next—Spiritual Growth: Your God-Given Gifts (Part 2)

Have you identified your primary motivational gift?