What a blessing and honor it is when God gives us spiritual gifts and the opportunities to use them to minister to others and help them grow in Christ! Knowing the gifts God has given you — and the ones he hasn’t given you1 — is essential to your ministry.
It’s important to realize that your spiritual gifts are only helpful to others when they are an expression of love for the people you’re serving. In other words, operating in any of the gifts of the Spirit is secondary to the fruit of the Spirit maturing in your character (Galatians 5:22-23). Humility is key: the gifts God gives us are to be used in submission to the Lord Jesus Christ and with the guidance and empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
Lists of Spiritual Gifts in the Bible
You can use this table to help you identify your spiritual gifts according to the New Testament passages that teach on different kinds of gifts. The three main lists of spiritual gifts in the Bible are correlated and concise definitions of each gift are provided. As you consider these Biblical teachings ask God to help you discern how he has equipped you to serve others in Jesus’ name. Also it’d be helpful for you to ask someone who knows you well to assess your spiritual gifts from his or her perspective.
| Equipping Gifts: Help others become fully alive and mature like Christ (Ephesians 4:11-13) | Service Gifts: Minister to others who need the help that you can give (Romans 12:3-8) | Gifts of the Spirit: Reveal who God is to benefit others (1 Corinthians 12:7-11) | Spiritual Gift Definitions: Your God-given gifts are things you do well and love doing, Use them to honor God and help others in the body of Christ — this will bring you joy! | Rank your gifts (e.g., your top four gifts) |
| Apostle | Starting a new community of Christ-followers | |||
| Evangelism | Inviting people to trust God through Jesus Christ | |||
| Pastor-Shepherd | Caring for the spiritual needs of a community | |||
| Prophesy | Prophesy | Prophesy | Preaching God’s message to the lost or confused | |
| Teaching | Teaching | Teaching God’s wisdom to learners | ||
| Serving | Recognizing and meeting people’s needs | |||
| Encouraging | Giving energy, hope, and courage to strugglers | |||
| Contributing | Cheerfully giving money or resources for God’s work | |||
| Leadership | Governing people who follow you as you follow Christ | |||
| Mercy | Showing empathy and kindness to the hurting | |||
| Wisdom | Counseling strugglers to walk God’s good path | |||
| Knowledge | Understanding God’s truth through study or intuition | |||
| Faith | Confidently trusting God to accomplish His good purposes | |||
| Healing | Healing the sick of body or soul with God’s power | |||
| Miracles | Demonstrating God’s power to glorify Him | |||
| Discernment | Discerning good from bad spiritual energies | |||
| Tongues | Using a prayer language to praise and love God | |||
| Interpretation of Tongues | Interpreting other languages to benefit everyone |
Spiritual Gifts Test
To learn more about your spiritual gift profile you can complete Ken Ellis’ 140 item Online Spiritual Gifts Test. He requests a donation.