I=Individual Style
There is no right or wrong style or temperament. There is no right personality or wrong personality. God has given your personality and He did it for a purpose.
There are lots of different ways you could classify personality. Scientists and psychologists have been trying to do it for years. There’s the MMPI — Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. There’s the Myers-Briggs Survey. There’s the Taylor-Johnson Temperament Analysis. There are many different ways and all of these ways are helpful but they’re all limited because you’re unique. For simplicity, Gary Smalley, a marriage counselor and author, summarized four personality styles in his book Making Love Last Forever. He compares the four styles or personality types to four different animals. Your style may be one of these animals or a combination of the animals.
LION – extroverted and task-oriented, Visionary, practical, productive, strong-willed, independent, decisive, leader
OTTER – extroverted and people-oriented; Outgoing, responsive, warm, friendly, talkative, enthusiastic, compassionate
GOLDEN RETRIEVER – introverted people-oriented; Calm, easy-going, dependable, quiet, objective, diplomatic, humorous
BEAVER – introverted and task-oriented, Analytical, self-disciplined, industrious, organized, aesthetic, sacrificing
Basically, we all tend to be strong in one of these areas and have one more of these styles to a lesser degree.
W = Working Spiritual Gifts – Part 3
Think about conflict. It’s not an if – it’s a when. No one really wants conflict or even to be confronted — and most of us don’t like to tell someone that you’re bothering me and you’re even getting on my nerves. So what happens? We bottle it up inside and explode on others who have nothing to do with the situation. But what if we did something different when we conflict arises? What if we learn to speak the truth of how we feel – but do it in a caring way – “carefronting” instead of confronting.
Carefronting is being honest and real about how you’re feeling – but doing it in humility and putting the other person’s feelings ahead of your own. What if we approached each other like this when conflict arises? What do you think would happen in the body of Christ? I think there would be unity and love and less gossiping and exploding in anger on each other. A positive, healthy sense of unity would be preserved and foster in a church.
Then, look at v.16 in Ephesians 4. “From whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped – when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”
Everything in the human body is useful and plays some key role. Every part contributes to the health and beauty of the body. No muscle is useless, no nerve is useless, no artery or vain is useless. What would happen if one part of the body stopped functioning? The whole body may suffer. It’s the same with us — we are all vital — serving is a team effort. As we begin to serve in our area of giftedness – we begin to experience the purpose that God has given us in the body of Christ.
Your spiritual gifts determine how God wants you to serve Him. Once you understand what your spiritual gift is, that was given to you the moment you were saved, it answers a lot of questions, like “What’s God’s will for my life?”, “What does He want me to do now that I’m a Christian?”, “What should be my ministry?”, “How should I spend my time?”, “Where should I focus my life?”, “What is God’s will and purpose and plan for me?” What kind of vocation would be best for me? All of these factors are answered when you understand your gift. Every Christian is called to serve the cause of Christ, but your spiritual gift shows how you particularly are to serve Him. If you’re gifted in organizing then God wants you to be an organizer. If your gifted in teaching then you need to be a teacher. If you’re gifted in encouraging others then you ought to be a small group leader. If you’re gifted in reaching non Christians you ought to be an evangelist.
Whatever you’re gifted in determines how you’re to use your life for God. This is where personal fulfillment and genuine happiness are found. Happiness and fulfillment in life come from investing the resources that God has given us in order to do what He has uniquely wired us to do. That’s the “W” in WIRED. WIRED has to do with joining God in His work in this world by using our spiritual gifts for Him and others.
W=Working Spiritual Gifts, Part 2
Using your God-given spiritual gift brings personal fulfillment and creates a healthy, thriving environment in a local church (Eph 4:13-16).
Look at v. 13 — the whole body is unified because everyone is beginning to live out their God-given purpose. There is an ever increasing appreciation for the heart of what Christianity really is – loving, holy living, enjoying God, sharing His story with people and reaching out to others in need.
According to v. 14, being unified in our spiritual maturity in Christ brings stability in a church community. Stability means that a maturing follower of Christ is not shaken by those who throw things at them to cause doubt and confusion. They’re able to discern bad or even harmful teaching as a result of being unified together as a body and as a result of becoming spiritually mature. In v.15, because we have reached a level of maturity and relational connection now, we can therefore be more real with each other (“speaking the truth in love’) which causes us to grow even more as a church community.
W=Working Spiritual Gifts
Embrace your spiritual gift as a window to discovering what God made you to do for him in the body of Christ (Eph. 4:11-12).
As followers of Christ, we all have one or more spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts are God-given abilities to serve others beyond our normal capacity. Working spiritual gifts are the category of gifts that are ministerial.
In Ephesians 4: 11, some of the working spiritual gifts are mentioned:
Prophets – those who speak strongly about God’s Word
Evangelists – those who express the good news of Christ to people who need Him
Pastors – those who care for the spiritual well-being of God’s people
Teachers – those who communicate God’s truth in a way that people can understand and apply it.
Other working spiritual gifts are mentioned in Romans 12: serving, encouragement, giving, leadership and showing mercy. All of the gifts are needed. If we don’t use our gifts, others will miss out.
In Ephesians 4:12, we see that exercising our spiritual gifts helps others discover what God made them to do for him (v.12). The word translated “equip†means two things: repair or mend as in a fishing net and it also means to prepare something so that it is ready for use. In the church, I find that people are one of two stages of spiritual development. They either need to be repaired – i.e., broken lives that need mending first – or they need to be unleashed into ministry because they are spiritually ready. Preparing means coaching, facilitating, mentoring, modeling, empowering and motivating them.
As ministry leaders, we need to discern if people need some mending or healing first – or are they ready to serve. People are in different stages. As we get to know each other, God asks us to be either menders to help people heal – or preparers to help them to discover their own giftedness and begin to use it to love and care for others.
Eccl. 4:10 – If one falls down, his friend can help him up.
WIRED for a Purpose
If we stop and take some time to reflect about spiritual things, sooner or later a question that may come up is – “Why did God put me here on this planet for this time? Or, did God create me for whatever or is there something more to this life?” God wants us to have lives that matter. He wants us to live intentionally – on purpose.
