Gifts: How to Discover, Develop and Prosper in Life with Your Gifts

Most of us are living below what we’re truly capable of.

I don’t believe for a moment that anyone of us wants to get to heaven and hear God say that they underlived their true potential.

Can you imagine God showing you all He created you for and all the things that were meant for you only to have missed them?

I don’t want that experience and I believe you don’t want to either. But why do we fold, hold back, and give excuses each time we sense greatness calling?

“Oh. I don’t do that! I step up and step out!” you may say out loud but sometimes we say that to quiet the voice in the background that doubts ourselves.

In our hearts of hearts, we question, second-guess, falter, and fear, we do every little thing to just run away.

Every human does that because of the fall in the garden of Eden. I think we underestimate the power of sin.

Sin cuts us off from our divine selves because it separated us from God but God restored us and now, we have to believe in what He says about who we are and what we can do.

Every individual has a treasure and is a treasure.

God has loaded you and me with benefits so that we can be value-adding to wherever we are planted.

You are more than just emotions, where you were born, race, tribe, etc. you are a person of worth, full of wonderful gifts fitted to serve within certain contexts.

We are to follow God’s blueprint for us and not according to the culture. God is the one who gave you the role, the personality, and the gifts to accomplish His eternal and glorious purpose.

Ask God, “What area am I gifted in? and how do you want me to use those gifts?”

Cindy Trimm defines giftedness as the precious endowment of the pure potential and outstanding ability, genius, and mastermind of God which allows a person to interact with the environment with remarkably high levels of achievement and creativity because of the presence and empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

Called to Be Fruitful

We are called to be fruitful- Gen 1:28:

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.”

Parable of the talents- Matt 25:14-30

Gen 1:18 and Jesus' parable endorses the use of the gifts given to man and to even reproduce from them.

It is okay to make money out of your gifts, to shine with your gift, to grow as a result of your gifts, to honour God, and to serve others all as a result of the gift given.

How are you using your gifts according to the uses mentioned?

Proverbs 18:16- “A man’s gift maketh room for him and bringeth him before great men”.

Your gift elevates you to places where you’re recognized by powerful, talented, resourced, influential, significant people in society.

Everybody has a gift, something that God gave to them that sets them apart from the rest.

How to Discover Gifts

There are gift assessment tests that one can take such as personality tests that help an individual identify areas of strength and weakness.

1. S.H.A.P.E Test

The S.H.A.P.E test enables one to identify their gifts according to their SHAPE which stands for:

· Spiritual gifts because we are all spirit beings,

· Heart i.e. passion,

· Abilities these are what you are naturally good at,

· Personality i.e. your intrinsic nature and

· Experiences i.e. your unique journey through the different events of life you’ve been through

You can take one right here https://www.freeshapetest.com/

2. T.R.A.P

There’s also the T.R.A.P tool that I heard about from one of Dr. Kinyanjui Ng’ang’a’s seminars.

It stands for:

· Talent (What you’re gifted with naturally)

· Resources (What you have acquired)

· Abilities (The skills you’ve learned)

· Personality (The way you express yourself to the world around you)

3. Feedback

Feedback from people in your life is also another means to assess and discover your gifts. These include co-workers, friends, family, etc.

Gift Killers

Besides discovering your gifts, you need to also know what serves as a threat to the development and utilization of your gifts.

I have listed a few below.

1. Comparison

I think this one tops in this century as the deadly plague that’s taken out so many millennials and centennials.

The temptation to compare your life with someone else has been amplified with the emergence of social media and smartphones.

We’re not only comparing lifestyles but the very essence of our identity and that includes your gifts.

We think that somebody else’s gift is better e.g., vloggers/YouTubers have it better than those with behind-the-scenes gifts like production or administration.

2. Sin

Sin is at the backdrop of everything wrong and that has gone wrong.

Every struggle we face in life, including identity struggles all have sin at the root.

Be it relational issues, financial issues, or health issues sin is at its root.

By sin, I not only mean omission or commission but the very nature of mankind since the fall.

3. Low self-esteem- The place of value

Low self-esteem is simply the way you see and feel about yourself.

Some of us were not appreciated enough, celebrated enough, or made to feel of worth and value to the extent that we believed we were less than and so we take a similar approach to life.

Recognizing such a belief system and taking aggressive steps against it is a daunting task. It consumes a lot of emotional, mental, and spiritual resources. Sometimes even physical resources but it’s the path to true freedom.

Remember Jesus' words, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

4. Limiting beliefs

This is not so different from low self-esteem because it’s a belief that keeps you from being the best possible version of you there is or living below your true potential.

Some of us I would dare to say are not in destiny jobs because of the limiting beliefs we have about ourselves.

5. Ignorance

I struggled with this.

Ignorance is a lack of illumination about a certain aspect. I was ignorant about who I was because I thought education was all the knowledge I needed. Turned out I was wrong.

Could you be wrong about yourself too?

Scripture says “My people perish for lack of knowledge” Are you amongst those people?

Seek enlightenment.

6. Toxic environments

Some of us have been privileged enough to be brought up in homes that had healthy environments, however, some of us didn’t have that.

Some of us have grown up knowing that fighting, arguing, and screaming is the way to get attention because of the domestic violence we’ve been exposed to and it's not your fault but how you choose to live your life going forward is up to you.

Check your environment, is it good or is it toxic?

7. Systems- Some governments are oppressive in nature and thus don’t foster growth

This is my opinion and you’re free to disagree with it but I believe Africa is one of the greatest continents with wasted potential.

Our governments are selfish and oppressive. The systems set are there to serve those at the top while the grass root people strive to make a living.

What’s even sad is that we keep making the same mistakes during the election of state leaders.

So, our problems are our own making.

Mastering a Gift and A Skill

The Difference Between a Gift and Skill

A gift is natural, it is an aptitude one has for something e.g. a musical gift whereas skill is learned e.g. specialized knowledge in a domain.

The 10,000 Hour Rule

The 10,000-hour rule is the rule that connotes that 10,000 hours is the magic number of greatness”

Taking this statement at face value makes it seem pretty simple because anybody can do it.

If you want to be great at anything just devote 10,000 hours of practice towards it and you will be experienced enough to be called a genius or a master in that field.

Whereas it is true that practice makes perfect, if you repeatedly do something, with time, your body will adapt and adopt it as a way of life and less effort will be applied while at the craft, however, it is not the only thing that makes one great at something.

You see with practice; one needs to be intentional about the thing one is devoting endless hours to.

Every time you practice you must have learned something from the previous day’s work and must work hard to implement some changes to improve and refine the way you work.

It isn’t about quantity but quality in the quantity.

A famous quote to bring out the point is what Bruce Lee said, “I don’t fear the man with a thousand kicks but the man with one kick done a thousand times.”

Your gift needs cultivating and that’s what the characters in the parable of talents did. Investing means they cultivated those talents.

The Temptation of Being a Copy Rather Than an Original

Do you know that YOU are a gift? You’re a gift to yourself!

Many people don’t see themselves that way.

They think that their usefulness is based on what they do, what earns them money and what other people say.

We are all faced with pressure from within and without to become a different version of our originality.

I believe that the 21st century is one unlike any other.

The pressure to conform is enormous! With news all over right down to our mobile devices, we’re inundated with information and other people’s lifestyles brought to our attention.

The following are some of the temptations the Bible lists as the temptations that draw us away from our original selves.

1. Temptation One: I Am What I Do (Performance)

The devil said to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread” (Matthew 4:3).

Jesus had not yet begun his ministry. He was in the background. Nobody knew him. What contribution had he made to the world?

The world today asks the same question. What have you achieved? What’s your contribution? What do you do? or prove your worth.

Most of us consider ourselves worthy if we have scored sufficient successes in work, family, school, and relationships.

When we don’t, we push ourselves, sink into depression out of shame, or perhaps blame others for our problems.

We need to know our worth outside of the things the world deems as significant because these things are transient in nature.

2. Temptation Two: I Am What I Have (Possessions)

Jesus was taken to see all the magnificence and riches of the earth. The devil was telling Jesus that He could have it all.

To be somebody, you need to have these things.

You’re a nobody without them. Nobody will see you if you don’t. That’s how everybody that’s recognized has done and is doing.”

The devil played on Jesus’ source of security. Had Jesus not known who He was, He would’ve fallen prey to the trick.

Our culture measures our success by what we own. Marketers now spend billions each year seducing potential clients to believe they need to have the things they sell to raise their level of importance.

Just think about it, as adults we measure ourselves through comparisons: e.g. Who has the most money? The most worked out and toned body?

Often our identity is tied to things on the outside such as education, job, or neighbourhood.

These things are not bad but it is what’s inside of us that determines the usefulness of the object.

More than ever, we need to know that we are more than the objects and pleasures that life can offer. We are eternal beings; we belong to God and we are dearly loved and valued.

3. Temptation Three: I Am What Others Think (Popularity)

Some of us care too much about what other people think until the day we realize that people don’t think about you as much as you think they do.

Satan invited Jesus to throw himself down from the highest spot of the temple so that people might believe in him. At this point, Jesus was not popular.

How could he think he had worth and value?

Most of us place a higher premium on what other people think than we realize.

We worry about things such as: “What will I say or not say in that conversation?”

“What kind of career will I pursue?”

Our self-esteem rises with a compliment and is devastated by criticism.

True freedom comes when we no longer need to be validated by others because we know we are lovable and good enough.

My Closing Remarks.......

If I wished to have a superpower it would be to help people realize the wonderful gift they are to the world.

I would want an unlocking of potential within people.

That is my wish and greatest endeavor as I pursue my purpose.

What action step will you take to discover the greatness within you?

I have a program dubbed “The Coaching Clinic” created and designed for the purpose of helping people grow and realize the highest and best possible version of themselves.

Do you want in?

Sign up today at vicsaykamau.wix.com/keystosuccess/thecoachingclinic or send an email to keystosuccess24@gmail.com