Developing Your Gift

This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; but you shall meditate therein day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success. Joshua 1:8

Now that you have discovered your gift, skill or talent, the next step is to DEVELOP it. By developing, I mean grow it, nurture it, exercise it and bring it to the point where it is ready to be used. According to the passage of scripture above, God has given us the tools required to develop our skills so that we can benefit from their application, which will eventually bring us good success and these tools have been broken down below. In life, whatever you focus on will develop and your life will generally go in the direction of the dominant thoughts of your mind. Once you have discovered your skill, talent or gift, it will force you to become focused and concentrate your energy in bringing the talent to bear fruits.

How To Develop Your Gift

1.

Study:

Study to show yourself approved to God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15

Study is defined as:

Research or a detailed examination and analysis of a subject, phenomenon, etc

To apply one self to the acquisition of knowledge, as by reading, investigation, or practice.

In order to gain knowledge and understanding of anything, there are various ways and methods that can be used. These include:

– Reading text books on the subject

– The Internet

– By research

– Interviewing others already in the field

– Reading autobiography of past achievers in the filed.

2.

Training

Training is another way by which someone can develop his or her gift or talent. This can be done either by:

– Enrolling in a school or learning institution

– Enrolling as an apprentice in a vocational centre

– Online training

– Internship

3.

Mentorship

Mentorship is defined as a formal relationship between a student and a professional adult to further the student’s knowledge, skills, gift or career.

In mentoring, it is the student’s responsibility to find the teacher – usually somebody who is already in the chosen field or career and who is successful at it. Another way by which a mentorship relationship can be established is where the mentor selects the students either through personal contact, recommendation or in some cases by divine instruction as in the case of Elijah and Elisha.

And on Jehu, son of Nimshi, making him king over Israel; and on Elisha, the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah, to be prophet in your place. (1 Kings 19:16)

In a mentorship situation, it is not uncommon for the student to approach the teacher with an offer to give his time to the service of the teacher for free in exchange for learning the necessary skills or developing the discovered talent. In order to maximise this opportunity, the student must ask all the relevant and necessary questions, gain as much insight as possible and explore all possible options to succeed in the business or trade.

4.

Leap of Faith

The fourth way of developing your gift, skill or talent is what I call the “Leap of Faith”. By this I mean having discovered your skill or talent, instead of waiting to be discovered or going through all the above steps, you can decide to “step out of the boat” by choosing to learn on the job. While this method may not be applicable in all situations, there is nothing preventing you from exercising your gut feeling and go at it yourself.

Whichever way you choose, my advice is that now that you have discovered your gift, skill or talent, Develop It! And refuse for anything to stop you from applying your self to the talent or gift of God in you so that you can start to “make your way prosper and have good success” because you too have the ability2succeed.

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Discovering Your Gift – 2

4. Discernment

In some cases, others with wisdom and discernment will see the gift of God in you and point it out to you. I have heard people say things like “there is a call of God on his life” about somebody else who could be living a life that does not resemble anything that God will or can use. However, you must be careful that nobody leads you down a wrong path in the name of discernment. The antidote to this is to check whatever is said against the Word of God and your inner witness. The Word of God is the final authority and not even God will say anything that will contradict His own Word.

5.     Stumble Upon

In some cases, people stumble upon their gift by accident or through unplanned circumstance. The Bible said this of Elisha, who was a farmer (and a successful one at that!) Then one day, he stumbled upon the purpose for his life when Elijah, under the direction of God touched him with his mantle and he became Elijah’s servant. The Bible records that Elisha ended up performing more miracles than his master Elijah.

.     Serving others

Sometimes, while you are busy serving other people’s call or gift, you will discover what your gift is. When you put yourself out to make other people’s dream come true, God will honour your faithfulness by revealing to you what He had deposited in you even when you are not looking or searching for it. The moral of the story is, when you are faithful with another man’s assignment, God will give you yours.

7. Training

The most common way by which people generally discover their gift is through training. This can be in form of vocational training or it could be through attending some form of educational institution. Usually, what precludes such training will be an inner desire to become what that training can give at the end. It is not uncommon for children to say ‘I will like to be a doctor when I grow up”; and then years later to find such person now operating or working as a doctor.

8.     Word of God

Perhaps the most assured and trusted way to discovering your God given gift or talent is to ask God directly either in prayer or through His written Words. In fact the written word of God is more assured than the audible voice of an angel, vision or word of knowledge. God has exalted His words above even His name. When you devote time to study the Word of God, you will find yourself in it. For instance, Jesus found Himself in the word when He said to the congregation in Luke 4 v 17 – 21 “And the book of the prophet Isaiah was given to him and, opening the book, he came on the place where it is said, ¹⁸The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because I am marked out by him to give good news to the poor; he has sent me to make well those who are broken-hearted; to say that the prisoners will be let go, and the blind will see, and to make the wounded free from their chains, ¹⁹To give knowledge that the year of the Lord’s good pleasure is come.  ²⁰And shutting the book he gave it back to the servant and took his seat: and the eyes of all in the Synagogue were fixed on him.  ²¹Then he said to them, today this word has come true in your hearing”.

God created us, He deposited the gift or skill in us, there is no better way of finding out what it is than to go to the giver of the gift and ask and He promised that if we ask, it shall be giving to us.

For more information;

email: abilitytosucceed@gmail.com

Discovering Your Gift

Jeremiah 1 v 5 says

Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

Your gift is as unique as you are, hence God formed (created or made) you, sanctified you, (set you apart) for Himself, and ordained (empowered you) for the purpose that He sent you to this world. Your uniqueness is what makes you who and what you are.  You cannot grow into the full expression of your potential if you live in doubt, or try to be somebody else, because that means you are undermining the gift of God that is in you.

Success is not the accumulation of material things; rather it is living out God’s purpose for your life by applying yourself to His gift in you. Your gift is more than enough for your life journey. Once you discover its composition or structure, develop and apply it, you will start to walk in freedom and success, because as the Bible says: your gift will make room for you! No one was born to simply struggle in life because we are all wired by God to function according to a specific sequence dictated by the gift of God in us. Whenever somebody taps into this, he or she will unlock the great potential inherent in him or her, which will open the door of great success in his or her life.

Society and the IQ movement have led us to believe that one is either gifted or not, below average or average, school grade or University material. How can you measure the essence of anybody by a series of tests that only pertains to mental aptitude and also streamlined or confined to a classroom environment? Thank God, He sees us differently! We are created in His image, (Genesis 1 v 26 – 27); and He has given us the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2 v 16) which confirms that we are not limited by anything – except the limitations that we put on ourselves. In the same way that your muscle grows with exercise and your intelligence grows with usage, the gift of God in you will also grow and develop as you use it accordingly.

How To Discover Your Gift

1.     The ashes of your past

It is not unusual to have come across your gift somewhere in the past. Maybe when you were young, you may not even have realized it then! But when you look back at your life, somewhere in the past, the traits of the gift of God in you will be noticed.

2.     Your Passion

Passion is expressed at the first realization of your gift. Your passion is that thing that consumes your thoughts, dreams, and your life. It is expressed in the things you can and will do without being bored or tired of doing it.

Your passion is different from your hobby in that:

Your hobbies are:

• Activities pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation.
• A vocation, sideline or spare time activity.

Your passion is:

• A powerful or compelling emotion or feeling.
• A strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm or desire for a thing.

3.     Natural Bent

You can only produce on the outside what you have on the inside. Your skill or gift will be the dominant force that drives you towards a specific inclination. If you are still unsure of your natural bent, step back and examine where is your “comfort zone”?  Where or what is it that you naturally and easily deferred to especially when things are rough? The Bible says in Proverbs 22 v 6 “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” This is not saying you should train a child in the way you think he should go, or lead the child to become what you want them to be in life. It means to study a child, identify his natural bent – (the things that he will naturally defer to) you can guide that child in how to become the best so that by the time s/he grows up, it would have become part of his personhood or vocation in life.

So when you feel the inner turmoil about yourself or your life, could it be that you haven’t really discovered your gift? Find it, search for it, leave no stone unturned because therein lies your success in life.

To be continued…

For more information,

email:abilitytosucceed@gmail.com