11-18-24-DAILY READING-ENG.

EXPERIENCING THE SPIRIT

                THE DANGER OF SPIRITUAL INVENTORIES

One of the ways we're sometimes tempted to operate according to natural talents instead of by the Spirit is through various tests known as spiritual gift inventories. These tests have become popular, but they can be confusing for many because of their inherent limitations. If a non-Christian took such a test, then took it again a few months later after becoming a Christian, it would probably produce the exact same results. Yet why should we now call something a spiritual gift when it would have been viewed as nothing more than a natural talent only months earlier?

Think of it this way. Are there non-Christians who are gifted musically? Are there non-Christians who are gifted teachers or gifted motivational speakers? Yes, the lost world around us has many such gifted people. But when those same people become Christians, why would we automatically think of those talents as spiritual gifts when they were present even before the Holy Spirit entered their lives? These people had those abilities before they had the Holy Spirit. Taking a spiritual gift inventory can help you understand where you're strong and where you're weak. It can even help identify how God has used you since you've become a Christian. But it shouldn't be used as a guide for how God desires to use you in the future, for God's purposes are based upon His strengths, not yours alone.

He may choose to take you into areas of service in which you're naturally weak in order to reveal His strength and bring glory to Himself He may ask you to serve in an area that's uncomfortable for you, just so you can know the joy of His presence working through you. He might even take you into a place where, based upon your natural inclinations, you would never have imagined yourself. But once you're there, you can't imagine anything better for your life. One of the dangers of relying on a spiritual gift inventory is that you'll be tempted to trust the test results and not turn to God to seek His perspectives about your giftedness. After all, why spend time seeking after God when you can take a test and get immediate results? Why trust your own walk with God when somebody else has done the work for you?

You can be sure that God loves the time and attention you give to being in His presence. What He's after is not quick results but a lifelong relationship. He loves for you to cry out to Him and learn to be sensitive to His Spirit in your life. Another danger with these inventories is that you may lock in your gifts and identify your field of service and therefore not be free to follow Christ in a new assignment. Too often people “discover” their spiritual gifts, then put on blinders that keep them from seeing anything outside their identified field of service. Our service to God shouldn't be a result of a written test; it should flow from a dynamic relationship with our living Lord whereby He guides our life day by day.