Encountering your Spiritual Gifts
- margaret kozak
- May 10, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we are reminded that each Christian is called to discover and use their spiritual gifts for the building up of the Church and the service of others (CCC 2003-2006). These gifts are bestowed by the Holy Spirit, who distributes them according to His divine wisdom. Encountering your spiritual gifts involves prayer, discernment, and openness to the Spirit’s guidance. When we recognize and embrace our gifts—such as wisdom, courage, charity, or faith—we become active participants in God's plan. Our spiritual gifts are not for personal pride but for the common good, helping us to serve others with love and humility. By seeking to understand and exercise our gifts, we deepen our relationship with God and fulfill our vocation as members of the Body of Christ.
What are your innate, God-given, and Charismatic talents?
Charisms: Charisms are graces of the Holy Spirit which directly or indirectly benefit the Church, ordered as they are to her building up, to the good of men, and to the needs of the world (CCC 799).
Discover Your Gifts
Here are nine ideas to help you discover some of your not-so-obvious gifts.
Ask others to let you know. Sometimes we don’t see in ourselves what others can see in us. Ask a friend, relative, or Church leader to write you a note about a gift or talent they see in you.
Look for gifts in adversity. During hard times we can choose between letting our best qualities or our worst qualities come out. When times are tough, focus on discovering and using your best qualities and gifts.
Pray for the help to recognize your gifts. Heavenly Father knows our divine potential. If we have a difficult time seeing that in ourselves, He can help. You can pray for help to recognize your gifts.
Don’t be afraid to branch out. Do we only develop the gifts that we already know we have because we’re too afraid to do something we haven’t done before? Now’s the time to try something new and discover unknown gifts.
Search the word of God. Heavenly Father helps us discover and develop our gifts through clues found in the scriptures—usually through invitations to act. Take this scripture for example: “Cease to contend one with another; cease to speak evil one of another” (D&C 136:23). What gifts could you develop from this invitation? The gift of speaking kind words, the gift to calm others, the gift of restraint, and more. And that’s just from one verse!
Look outside yourself. Sometimes our best qualities come out when we’re not focusing on ourselves but focusing instead on how we can work with and help others. When we do that, we’ll see that we have many Christlike gifts.
Think about people you look up to. Who are some of your role models? You can make a list of all of the gifts your role models have and, instead of focusing on which gifts you don’t have in common, celebrate discovering the ones you do.
Reflect on your family. What gifts do you have that your siblings, parents, or grandparents have too? Go further! Research family history, discover stories, and identify even more gifts you share with your family.
Receive and study your patriarchal blessing. Your blessing could talk about gifts you have and should develop, and it could also point you to the path that will lead to the discovery of other new gifts and talents.
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