One of the areas I struggled in after becoming a believer during my mid-twenties was in understanding what my spiritual gifts were. I had married a worship pastor at our local church, and it seemed so evident what his gifts were, which was simultaneously wonderful but also depressing as it made me feel even more inadequate. I loved Jesus and desperately wanted to serve Him, but for a long time, I just wasn’t sure how to go about it.
Honestly, I felt as though I didn’t have the right kind of personality to be useful to Jesus. You see, my entire life I’ve been the kind of person who has no qualms about sharing her opinion, loves a good debate, and is a bit feisty, as my husband likes to say. But when I looked around at the Christian world, it seemed full of these really sweet, lovely ladies who never put their feet in their mouths, unlike myself who tended to do so on a regular basis. Thus, even though I loved the Lord and had been changed by the Gospel, I still had my fiery, passionate side and wasn’t sure how God could use a verbal maniac like me for His good.
One evening, my husband and I were outside working on our landscaping, and I overheard some neighborhood boys laughing at another boy who stood about twenty feet away. Their disdain for this other boy was evident, and it broke my heart. Even more, they weren’t trying to conceal their cruelty towards this lonesome boy. So, I did what only a passionate, fiery lover of Jesus would do. I told those three boys to knock it off.
After I did so, my husband looked over at me with wide-eyes, and I knew he thought I’d been a little too bold, a little too brash. To be honest, I didn’t feel any conviction from the Holy Spirit. I, who have three children of my own, would only hope that someone would stand up for one of my kiddos if he was being picked on by others. In fact, I would be so grateful if someone cared enough about my child to call out someone’s wickedness against him (let alone three against one).
So, that’s when it hit me—while my husband is kindness and sweetness itself, what comes along with these traits is his struggle to stick up for others and himself. On the other hand, because of my God-given personality, I have no problem standing up for myself or for others. It was then that I realized a bit of the gifting the Lord had given me. While I had pegged myself as a mouthy believer in desperate need of some self-control, God was showing me that I could use my boldness to care for others, to stand up for the voiceless, and to proclaim His goodness to the world.
As the Bible reveals in 1 Corinthians 12:4, “Now there are a variety of gifts, but the same Spirit.” What a comfort to know that God has given His people a variety of ways to love others, and our love will not all look the same. I had assumed my spiritual gifts would be similar to those ladies I knew in church or even to my husband’s. However, as the Scriptures teach, God has given His people a variety of gifts, and we need not compare our gifts to others.
In the end, we need to trust that the Lord has gifted us all and will use us to love the world in the way HE sees fit—not the way our parents, others, or even ourselves imagine we will do so.
About the Author:
Allison Myers is a worship pastor’s wife and mom to three delightful children. She earned her B.A. in English and Master’s degree in English Education before going on to teach High School English for many years. Allison currently serves on the Writing Team at her church, is a women’s small group leader, and writes for Lifeway’s Journey magazine. She has created two Bible study tools, In the Word: Walking through the Book of James and In the Word: Walking through Colossians in order to help people slow down and read the Scriptures in a stress-free way.
Connect with Allison:
https://instagram.com/allisonpmyers
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