In the continuing series “What’s the Shape of Your Faith,” Heather asks us this week about spiritual gifts. For those who might be unfamiliar with this term, the Bible teaches that God gives gifts in the form of abilities to His followers through which He works in and through the lives of believers. I Corinthians 12 is one of the main passages that teaches about spiritual gifts, though there are others which touch on it. The definitions for some of the individual ones will be discussed later.

Thankfully this is a topic I have thought through carefully at several points in the past. One church we were members of in another state did a very thorough study over several weeks on this topic. A few years ago at our church here we had a ladies’ Bible study using a book which was one of the best I’ve seen on the topic. Unfortunately I can’t remember the name and I am not sure where the book is. I had thought it was from Regular Baptist Press, but I searched and did not see it there. I will see if I can find it later because I would love to share the title with you.

There are things I learned in the wake of those two studies that I would like to share here before I get into my own spiritual gift survey.

First of all, while taking surveys like this can be helpful, there can be variance from each of them because of the way the questions were asked. I would not use any of them as a hard-and-fast diagnosis, but rather a guideline.

Secondly, one danger in a study like this is the possible “That’s not my job” mentality that may arise. There are certain things we are all supposed to do — give, help people, witness, etc. — but some people are especially gifted at it. Sometimes, I can testify, God puts us in situations we’re not gifted to handle — I think in order to cause us to see the need to depend on Him, and so the results will be attributed to Him and not our giftedness. So, while a study like this can be help us to know what types of ministry we might best participate in, ultimately we need to do whatever we feel the Lord is requiring of us every day, seeking His will and strength and grace and power to do it.

One thing to remember is that our gifts are not…foolproof, for want of a better word. There is Scriptural instruction for how we are to exercise those gifts — we don’t receive them fully developed usually. We still have a sin nature we need to battle against every day, and that will sometimes affect our gifts and how we exercise them. And, as we mature, our spiritual gifts should also mature. Why am I even bringing this up? Well, I have sat under those who have felt they had the gift of teaching who I really doubted had that gift. I have seen some who said they have the gift of discernment make errors in discernment. That doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t have that gift, but for some reason their correct use of it was skewered. That is one reason there is Bible instruction on how to exercise our gifts

Another danger is that of tending to trust in our gift rather than in Him. This goes along with the preceding point.

A spiritual gift is also not an excuse for negative personality traits. In the former church I mentioned, there was an older man who could sometimes be a cantankerous and get all in a huff over something and “let loose” about it. The questions in that particular study seemed to indicate that the gift of a “prophet” would have that type of personality, so he felt fully justified, even exultant, that that was his gift. Well, first of all, I would disagree that a prophet is like that (the Biblical prophets all had different personalities. One pastor pointed out that many of them ministered at the same time and area, and one reason God raised up different prophets in the same time and place was so that the different personalities and approaches might reach different people), but secondly, as we grow in grace our spiritual gifts will become more refined and Christlike.

One positive thing to remember is that God gives to the body of Christ different people with different gifts to work together to accomplish His will, and they will tend to balance out each other. For instance, a church whose members all have the gifts of mercy and giving, but no one with discernment or administration, will probably run into trouble. So when we get frustrated in committee meetings or business meetings because other people don’t see things the way we do, that may be one reason. But the Lord will guide to the correct course of action.

One last thought: many of the test questions used words like “enjoy” or “take joy in” or the word “easily.” While what we enjoy doing or what comes easily to us may be a sign of a spiritual gift, I think of Moses and all the good reasons he gave God as to why he wasn’t gifted to go before Pharoah and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. Yet God told him to go and promised to give him what he needed to do the job. I don’t think there is much record that he enjoyed the process. Paul told the Corinthians that he had been with them “in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.” He goes on to say, “And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” That’s what a spiritual gift is!

OK, now that this post is already too long 🙂 I’ll get to the results of my surveys. 🙂

In the first Spiritual Gifts Discovery Survey that Heather referred us to, my highest results were Faith (20),Teaching (19), Administration/Ruling (15), Discernment and Giving (14), Exhortation and Wisdom (13).

In the second Spiritual Gift Inventory she mentioned, my highest scores were Knowledge (16), Teaching (15), and Administration, Exhortation, Giving, and Wisdom all tying at 14.

In the previous book study I mentioned, I scored higher in Discernment. That may be because the second survey above seemed to define discernment as knowing when demonic activity is present, whereas the previous study I did defined it more as discerning between what teaching is Biblical and what is not. Other studies might put that in the category of wisdom or knowledge. (That’s why I say no one study is foolproof. 🙂 )

In both, Helps and Mercy hover around the middle of the scale, with evangelism low.

That has pretty well been the way it has played out in the other tests I have taken, with maybe a little different order, but those same ones are the ones that keep popping up.

Here are the definitions from the first survey for the ones I scored highest in:

Faith: “It is the special gift whereby the Spirit provides Christians with extraordinary confidence in God’s promises, power, and presence so that they can take heroic stands for their future of God’s work in the church. See Hebrews 11.”

Teacher: “It is the special gift whereby the Spirit enables particular Christians to communicate the truths of God’s Word so that others can learn. See Hebrews 5:12-14.”

Administration: “It is the special gift whereby the Spirit enables certain Christians to understand the goals of a given segment of the Church’s ministry and to direct that area effectively, keeping the Church on course. See Acts 15:12-21.”

Giving: “It is the special gift whereby the Spirit enables certain Christians to offer their material blessings for the work of the church with exceptional willingness, cheerfulness and liberality. See 2 Corinthians 8:1-5.”

From the second site’s definitions:

Knowledge: “The special ability that God gives to certain members of the Body of Christ to discover, accumulate, analyze, and clarify information and ideas which are pertinent to the well-being of the Body.”
This gift is a practical gift. Those with the gift of knowledge are at home in a book or studying. Those with this gift will often spend countless hours researching information. These people are interested in ideas and problem solving through gathering information and studying. Often, those with this gift have a low need for people. On rare occasions, people with this gift will gather vast amounts of information through studying and analyzing personal experience, but the primary method of learning with this gift is reading and studying books and other written materials. Scriptures: Luke 1:1-4; Acts 5:1-11; 1 Corinthians 2:14; 12:8; 2 Corinthians 11:6; Colossians 1:10; 2:2-3; 1 Timothy 2:15.

Teaching: “The special ability that God gives to certain members of the Body of Christ to communicate information relevant to the health and ministry of the Body and its members in such a way that others will learn.”
This gift is a communication gift. People with the gift of teaching enjoy studying the Bible and related materials in order to communicate what they have learned to other Christians. Those with this gift find it easy to organize vast amounts of information in such a way as to make it easy to communicate, understand, and remember. Scriptures: Matthew 7:28-29; 28:19-20; Acts 15:32; Romans 12:6; 1 Corinthians 12:10, 28; Ephesians 4:11-14.
Note: Exhortation, Prophecy, and Teaching are considered the communication gifts. The distinctions for each gift are often confused. Often, gifted communicators have a mix of these gifts. Exhortation focuses on personal and practical application of the message or truth being communicated. Prophecy focuses on the urgency and impact of the message or truth being communicated. Teaching focuses on bringing thorough or adequate understanding of the message or truth being communicated.

I think the latter two definitions hit the nail on the head for me. I love studying and researching the Bible. I used to be confused by my scores on “Teaching,” though, because, though I majored in education, I came to feel that teaching was not what I wanted to do. Now, with some physical problems, while it wouldn’t be impossible, the standing in front of a classroom type of teaching is still not what I feel called to. However, one of the previous spiritual gift studies mentioned writing as a method of teaching, and my heart leapt at that. I don’t know how the Lord may use that just yet. He has used it in smaller ways in various opportunities He has given me to write, here, and in our ladies’ ministry newsletter, and on a subscriber list I am on for TM patients and caregivers. If that is as far as He wants it to go, that’s fine.

Discernment, in the sense of discerning whether teaching is in line with the Word of God, comes into play here. I would never profess to be perfect at it, but sometimes during ladies’ Bible studies we will gloss over something in the book, and I’ll say, “Wait a minute…is that saying what I think it is?”

This gift is one for which you have to take the test questions very cautiously. Some of them say thing like, “I can size a person up after first impressions.” There is great danger in being presumptuous with that sort of attitude.

When I first began to serve in the church, it seemed that all the opportunities that came my way involved children’s ministries. While I could do it, and even enjoy it to some extent, I really didn’t look forward to it and often dragged my feet about it. For several years my family was active in Awanas. The one thing I liked about it was that it was something we could do as a whole family, rather than all separating at the door the way some ministry opportunities are. And my husband was really good at it. 🙂 Those two things kept me in it longer than I really wanted to be. But one year the Awana secretary needed a helper. That involved the more administrative behind-the-scenes details: ordering supplies, finding out who earned what awards and laying them out to be given at the end of the night, record-keeping, etc. That changed my outlook dramatically — I felt as if I had finally found my niche. That was one of my first clues, really, about God’s gifting people for different ministries. It was like a light bulb came on. Nowadays the Lord has used that primarily in the ladies’ ministry at out church. When it first began in the format it is now, another lady headed it up. Because I was interested in it, I asked questions and offered comments and help. When her family moved away, I was asked to take over. I really feel more comfortable as a “second banana” implementing the outworking of the various things we do, arranging for speakers and activities, etc. I’m not really comfortable as a leader and don’t feel I inspire or motivate people to action (which seems to be the definition of a leader.) I don’t think I have the personality to be the out-front person. Many times I have wished the other lady would move back and we could go back to the way it was before. 🙂 But I do feel confident that this was the Lord’s will for me these last few years and have seen Him work through me in that ministry. But if He wanted to raise up another leader and put me back as assistant, I’d be more than willing. 🙂

I think maybe because of seeing the Lord’s working in many of the different situations I mentioned earlier, plus reading many missionary biographies, it doesn’t seem hard now to trust the Lord to do things. When my husband has come to me at times with concern over a job situation, there has been a rock-solid conviction that the Lord will take care of us. Oh, there has been some measure of concern as to how it will all work out. But ultimately he enables me to trust in the fact of is control, provision, guidance, and protection. This may be where the scores for the gift of “faith” have come in. I have to confess, though, that I have more trouble trusting the Lord fo smaller everyday things than for the major crises of life. Silly, isn’t it, that I can trust Him with the saving of my soul and the care of my family and then wobble over things like helping me to find a bathroom when we are traveling. 😳

I do love to give, and not just money. I love looking for just the right gift for someone. I can’t understand when people give gifts without any thought as to what the recipient might want or like. The Lord has been using this in two ways. One is our church’s missions closet which we take missionaries through when they visit our church. Just recently a missionary my husband took back there picked up a small set of tools and said, “I almost bought these, but didn’t. May I take these?” Sure! It gives me a lot of joy to be used in that way. The second area is the missionary Christmas gift collection that our ladies’ groups sponsors for our church. We do ask the missionaries for ideas, and then make up lists that our folks can sign up on for what things they would like to contribute. I can sometimes drive myself (and my husband, I’m sure!) crazy with the details of that, wanting to get just the right thing, making sure the gifts are even among family members, etc. But overall I love it.

I have to confess, though, that I don’t always give sacrificially. I do love to give, but I like to have, too. 😳 And I have to learn that running over the budget to give is not exercising that gift in the best way, but praying over it and exercising discernment in what to give and being willing to do so sacrficially is something I need more of.

Whew! Are you still reading? Pat yourself on the back for me. 🙂

I would encourage any of you who want to discern what your spiritual gifts are to try different ministries within the church and your sphere of influence. That and other people’s feedback, along with studying the Word of God, are the best ways, I think, to see where you “fit” within the body of Christ. And you do fit somewhere.

Some weeks ago Heather at Graced By Christ began a series called “What Is the Shape of You Faith?” I participated in the first installment regarding testimony, but haven’t yet in the subsequent ones about Personality, Abilities, Passion, and today’s about Life Experiences. The questions have been a bit more involved than I have had (or maybe made) time to deal with thoroughly, but they have been providing food for thought! I think I am finally ready to deal with the section on personality.

Before I do, though, I want to discuss a couple of inherent dangers in this type of study. Sometimes, when studying or discussing various personality types (or spiritual temperaments), people tend to pigeonhole others based on what they think everyone else’s personality type is and then listen to and react toward them through that filter. While this kind of study can help us understand and interact with others, we have to be careful about pigeonholing and over-simplifying.

One of the other major dangers in studying personality types is the tendency to then use our personalities as an excuse: what comes across to others as a flaw we excuse in ourselves with a “That’s just the way I am” mentality. A former pastor used to say, “With every strength there is an off-setting weakness.” Because we have a fallen nature, our personality traits can have their negative sides. We are all, as Christians, supposed to be continually conforming to Christ’s image. A study of personality can help us understand ourselves and how we relate to others, and we can rejoice in the way God has made us, but that shouldn’t be the end of it: we should be asking the Lord to help smooth the rough edges, to help us see the weakness as well as the strength of our traits so that we can best glorify Him and be used by Him and seek His help and strength to grow and act and react as He wants us to rather than as what comes naturally. For instance, someone who is naturally introverted can understand that that probably means she may not be likely to have a job or ministry that involves dealing with a multitude of people. But she shouldn’t let that introverted tendency cause her to not reach out to others, to not extend herself, to stay within her own four walls (I am introverted, and I know these are my tendencies). By God’s grace, she can reach out. Conversely, some personality types can run roughshod over people and have trouble seeing things any other way but the way they see them, or someone who is very direct and straightforward can come across as lacking in grace and be totally unaware that he or she is coming across that way. With these or any other traits, we can know what our tendencies are and see ways the Lord can use them, but we need to also see those traits are not an end in themselves and ask the Lord to refine us and conform us to His likeness. Any way in which we’re not conformed to His likeness can be a stumblingblock to other people.

On the positive side, years ago my pastor at the time was telling about how some of the different prophets in the Bible were contemporaries of each other. Some of them lived and prophesied around the same time and in the same places, or very close, and had similar messages. One reason for that, he said, was that each one had a different personality or style and could be used by God to reach different people. Some folks would be drawn to the one prophet; some to another. That was eye-opening for me, not just in understanding the Biblical prophets, but in understanding one of the reasons God made different personalities and how He could use them.

One other positive note about studying different personalities is the realization that all the different personality types are needed to balance each other out and accomplish different things.

Now….as to my own personality…I tend to get frustrated with these tests. I tend to be too analytical and often, as I am looking over the choices to answers to specific questions, think that none of them are exactly what my answer would be. 🙂 And the personality tests that result in all the initials have frustrated me because I haven’t quite understood the results, and the explanation of the results went on for pages and pages and only confused me more. But the test Heather recommended had links to explanations of the test results that were fairly easy to digest. I have taken these kinds of tests before and may have come up with some different initials (I thought I had kept the previous results somewhere, but couldn’t find them to compare my current results). But my results for this test were ISTJ: Introverted, Sensing. Thinking, Judging, the one called the Inspector, or in another place, the Guardian, the Duty Fulfiller. As I read through the description, I recognized myself in a lot of it, but disagreed with some of it. I saw and took another personality test on another site, and the result there was ISFJ; Introverted, Sensing, Feeling, Judging, the Nurturer, the Protector Guardian. So the difference seems to be between the thinking and feeling areas. That may be due to those questions on the test where my answer wasn’t clear-cut one way or the other, or, as Heather pointed out in her post, the result of Christ working in me to balance me over the years.

Heather asks:

So now we have our basic temperaments figured out how do we apply them to our faith?

How does your specific personality affect how you relate to those around you?

How does it affect how you relate to other Christians?

Non-Christians?

How does it affect your ministry?

Did you recognize anyone else’s personality when looking over the types?

How might this affect how you relate to them?

How does you personality affect your relationship to the Lord?

This post is already long, so I won’t go through a step-by step analysis: instead I’ll just mention a few things.

I do tend to be more practical than emotional, though I am not unemotional, and there are times in my life I have to fight being ruled by emotion. I agree that I am not effusive and probably can be seen sometimes as aloof. One set of college roommates once told me well into the school year that when they first met me, they thought I was a stuck-up rich kid. 😦 I knew I wasn’t rich and hoped I wasn’t stuck-up! I guess the fact that they felt free to tell me that indicated that they decided I wasn’t after all. That did grieve me, though, that I came across like that, but I often hear that charge being laid against others who are quiet and shy.

My pastor once said that some people are idea people and some people are – I forget what exact word he used, but the type of practical person who works out the ideas. I’m the latter. As such I can get very frustrated with the enthusiastic dreamers and the idea people, when they come up with something that either just won’t work or would be a pain to work out. It’s especially hard when the “dreamer” is the authority over the “doer” – the dreamer/authority comes up with the shadowy but enthusiastic idea which causes the doer to think, “What…?” “Do you have any idea what that would take?” One can feel dumped on in such situations or feel that the dreamer seems to be impractical or just dreaming and not caring about what he is requiring the doer to do, or that the dreamer is just dreaming while the doer has to do all the work. It’s hard to be patient and longsuffering – they probably think it is hard to be patient and longsuffering with the person like me who they might think is a “stick in the mud” or who “doesn’t like to try new things” (not entirely true) or who seems to keep shooting down their great and wonderful ideas. 🙂 It’s just one of those areas where we need to maintain balance, to realize that the world needs both dreamers and doers, and to try to be gracious with each other and find common ground.

One of the differences between the ISTJ and the ISFJ was that the “ISTJs are easily frustrated by the inconsistencies of others, especially when the second parties don’t keep their commitments. But they usually keep their feelings to themselves unless they are asked. And when asked, they don’t mince words. Truth wins out over tact.” I agree with the frustration part, but I don’t usually express myself by not mincing words. I don’t usually express myself at all when it comes to frustrations with others – at least not to that person. My poor dear husband hears a lot of my frustrations with others. I do see a tremendous need for tact, and though I am sure I fail sometimes, I usually try not to directly say, “You should do….” But rather, “You might try…” or “Well, this worked for me…” I think in this I am more like the ISFJ than the ISTJ.

“The grim determination of the ISTJ vindicates itself in officiation of sports events, judiciary functions, or another situation which requires making tough calls and sticking to them.” Grim determination? 🙂 I can’t see myself in any of those occupations – I am too indecisive, too prone to look at all the possible angles.

Words like faithful, dependable, hard-working come up on both profiles. I want to be and try to be – I am acutely aware that I fail in those areas. What progress has been made has mainly been due to growth in Christian character over the years.

“The ISTJ will work for long periods of time and put tremendous amounts of energy into doing any task which they see as important to fulfilling a goal. However, they will resist putting energy into things which don’t make sense to them, or for which they can’t see a practical application. They prefer to work alone, but work well in teams when the situation demands it…The ISTJ has little use for theory or abstract thinking, unless the practical application is clear.” Yep.

“Under stress, ISTJs may fall into ‘catastrophe mode’, where they see nothing but all of the possibilities of what could go wrong. They will berate themselves for things which they should have done differently, or duties which they failed to perform. They will lose their ability to see things calmly and reasonably, and will depress themselves with their visions of doom.” I can be like that – I think I’ve mellowed in this area over the years.

“ISFJs are often unappreciated, at work, home, and play. Ironically, because they prove over and over that they can be relied on for their loyalty and unstinting, high-quality work, those around them often take them for granted–even take advantage of them. Admittedly, the problem is sometimes aggravated by the ISFJs themselves; for instance, they are notoriously bad at delegating (‘If you want it done right, do it yourself’). And although they’re hurt by being treated like doormats, they are often unwilling to toot their own horns about their accomplishments because they feel that although they deserve more credit than they’re getting, it’s somehow wrong to want any sort of reward for doing work (which is supposed to be a virtue in itself). (And as low-profile Is, their actions don’t call attention to themselves as with charismatic Es.) Because of all of this, ISFJs are often overworked, and as a result may suffer from psychosomatic illnesses.” Boy, does that paragraph hit the nail on the head!! Especially the last two or three sentences. I don’t really think I am unappreciated, but I can feel that way when I’m overworked and stressed.

“Like most Is, ISFJs have a few, close friends. They are extremely loyal to these, and are ready to provide emotional and practical support at a moment’s notice. (However, like most Fs they hate confrontation; if you get into a fight, don’t expect them to jump in after you. You can count on them, however, run and get the nearest authority figure.)” Yep!

“One ISFJ trait that is easily misunderstood by those who haven’t known them long is that they are often unable to either hide or articulate any distress they may be feeling. For instance, an ISFJ child may be reproved for ‘sulking,’ the actual cause of which is a combination of physical illness plus misguided “good manners.” An adult ISFJ may drive a (later ashamed) friend or SO into a fit of temper over the ISFJ’s unexplained moodiness, only afterwards to explain about a death in the family they ‘didn’t want to burden anyone with.'” This was one of those paragraphs that was very helpful to me – I recognized myself perfectly but couldn’t have told you beforehand that that was what was going on – trying to balance that something is wrong that I can’t hide but can’t articulate either.

The “I” for Introverted is one thing that has remained constant in any personality test. Introversion and shyness aren’t exactly the same things, but they do go together, I think. I was painfully shy growing up. After I became a Christian, because I tended to be pretty quiet in groups, people would comment on my “meek and quiet spirit.” I can testify that a closed mouth does not necessarily indicate a quiet spirit. One can have a raging spirit and still be quiet on the outside (which is not very healthy, by the way!) I usually let other people initiate conversations and friendships (because I usually didn’t know what to do or say or was too timid), usually had one close friend rather than a multitude of friends, was a homebody rather than a person who constantly had to be out doing things with other people. The Lord has helped me with these tendencies a lot through the years. One thing He did was to allow me to go to a small Christian school my last two years of high school, and I got involved in things there, like yearbook and student council, that I never would have dreamed of trying in the larger public high school I had been in, plus being in a smaller school, there is less opportunity to “hide” in the crowd. Then He allowed me to go to a Christian university and be in a dorm room with four other girls at a time. That forces one to interact with other people and come out of oneself a bit. Then He led me to a man to marry who is very easy-going and had no problems talking with or interacting with people. Plus all along the way He helped me to grow in Him and see the need to get beyond myself and reach out to and interact with others. After I was married and began to get involved in my local church, one of the first “jobs” I was asked to do was to go to the visitors at our ladies’ group, speak to them, introduce myself, and ask them to fill out a visitor’s card. That doesn’t sound too hard, does it? Well, it was a big step for me, and many times I would have to find a quiet spot, take a deep breath, and then go on. People who know me now probably would have trouble believing I was ever so shy, but I was. Nowadays I can start a conversation with other people fairly easily (especially if I don’t think about it too much beforehand), but it is still my tendency not to, to let someone else greet a visitor or take the first step. I’m still a homebody and can get very frustrated and depleted when there are a lot of activities going on that take us away from home. With the connection to the “outside world” with the Internet now, it would be all too easy for me to keep within my own four walls, yet thankfully the Lord has shown me the importance over the years of reaching out and interacting with others.

As far as ministry goes, for most of my life I have preferred to be the quiet one behind the scenes doing whatever needed to be done. You wouldn’t think an introverted person would be a leader. Yet God has put me in some positions that I knew I had to take or else be out of His will. I have seen Him stretch me in ways I never would have thought possible. I still feel awkward about the “in front of people” part of those ministries, but He helps me with that.

I don’t know that this post is very coherent: I’ve been thinking about it for weeks and composing it in spurts over days while reading the various profiles and having all of that swirling around in my head. J In some ways it might be better to let this sit for a while and then come back to it and refine it, as far as the writing goes. But since this is already so far behind the other posts on this subject, I want to go ahead and get it out there.

ISFJ Profile

ISTJ Profile