Shape: The Hidden Geometry of Information, Biology, Strategy, Democracy, and Everything Else

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Uncovering Your S.H.A.P.E. Don’t wait to begin using your spiritual gifts until you understand all the details about how they will be expressed in your life. In Seizing Your Divine Moment, Erwin McManus says: “Don’t look for God to fill in all the blanks. Don’t wait for Him to remove all the uncertainty. Realize He may actually increase the uncertainty and leverage all the odds against you, just so you will know in the end that it wasn’t your gifts but His power through your gifts that fulfilled His purpose in your life.” The apostle Paul uses a great word picture to show the importance of strengthening what God has given us when he tells young Timothy to “fan into flame” his gift (2 Tim­othy 1:6). Imagine smoldering embers that burst into flame as you fan them. This is exactly what happens when you develop the gifts God has given you — they become more powerful and purposeful for God and eventually boost your Kingdom Purpose like nothing else. You have been gifted for greatness — in ser­vice, not status. Identifying your spiritual gifts is the crucial first step to finding the unique role God intends for you to fulfill. Now that you have begun to recognize your unique gifts, you need to hear from God about how he wants you to put them to work. In the next chapter, we’ll take a closer look at hearing God’s voice — by listening with your heart. Uncovering Your S.H.A.P.E. What Are Spiritual Gifts? Let’s start by clarifying what they are not. First, your spiritual gifts are not the same as your personality traits. A personality test is not an adequate indicator of what spiritual gifts you possess. Your personality traits, however, do provide natural vehicles for expressing your gifts. For example, if God wired you to be outgoing, then your gifts will work best as you actively engage other ­people. If you are more reserved by nature, your personality will complement your giftedness. Second, spiritual gifts are not the same as natural talents. You can be a very talented architect, salesperson, or manager, but those are not spiritual gifts. Leslie B. Flynn explains, “Talents have to do with techniques and methods; gifts have to do with spiritual abilities. Talents depend on natural power, gifts on spiritual endowment.” Third, spiritual gifts are not the same as the fruit of the Spirit described in Galatians 5:22 – 23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The fruit of the Spirit reveal Christ’s contribution to our character, while our spiritual gifts reveal the contribution we make to God’s kingdom. So what are spiritual gifts? For this study, let’s define a spiritual gift as a God-given special ability, given to every believer at conversion by the Holy Spirit, to share his love and strengthen the body of Christ. The Bible tells us in 1 Peter 4:10 that God is the gift giver: “God has given gifts to each of you from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Manage them well so that God’s generosity can flow through you” (NLT). I love how Os Guinness, in his book The Call, talks about the role of giftedness. Os says, “The purpose of giftedness is stewardship and ser­ vice, not selfishness.” God gives us these special abilities for specific reasons. Spiritual gifts only work in spiritual ways. Designed to bring great color and clarity to your life, they can only be used to their full potential when empowered by the Holy Spirit, who dwells in the life of every believer. Only those who have entered into a personal relationship with Christ have these gifts.

Spiritual Gifts: A set of special abilities that God has given you to share his love and serve others. Ever wondered, ‘Who am I?’ Ever thought, ‘What is my purpose of life?’ I have great news: the mystery is over. Erik Rees gives you the tools to answer those questions so you can live the life you were created to live. Embrace S.H.A.P.E. with everything you have so you can discover not only how special you are but your specific purpose for life.” Dr. Gary Smalley Author of I Promise Filled with Scripture and real-life stories, S.H.A.P.E. presents a series of challenges that will guide you through the process of discovering your personal blend of:• In addition, this inspiring guidebook utilizes the purpose of ministry outlined in The Purpose Driven Life to give you the tools to:• Trap #4: Deception The final trap Satan uses is deception. He manipulates you into believing you have certain gifts that God in fact has not given you — distracting you from putting your true gifts into effect and preventing you from accomplishing what God intended for your life. This deception especially plays itself out when it comes to leadership. John Maxwell has said, “If you think you are a leader, but no one is following you — you are just taking a walk.” ­People like that often expect results that will be blessed by God, yet God never meant for them to be a leader — at least not in the way they imagine. Be wary of Satan’s deception as you begin to share the gifts God has given you. Focus on God so he can reveal the spiritual gifts he has for you and show you how he wants you to use them for his glory. An excellent way to ensure that you don’t fall prey to one of these traps is to ask trustworthy ­people in your life for help and accountability.Our leader is a Servant. But we can be slow to follow. Erik Rees has written the servant’s manual and it’s accessible, illuminating, applicable, and inspiring.” John Ortberg Teaching Pastor Menlo Park (California) Presbyterian Church Uncovering Your S.H.A.P.E. Chapter 1: Masterpiece. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Chapter 2: Spiritual Gifts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Chapter 3: Heart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Chapter 4: Abilities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Chapter 5: Personality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Chapter 6: Experiences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 A main take away for me is this point by Erik Rees: the key to spiritual transformation is meeting God in vulnerability – the inclination is to show presentable parts – that’s like going to the dentist and only showing him your good teeth. Trust God to meet our shame, weaknesses and sin with his love.

It's all here: insights that can change the way you look at yourself and how you live your life and practical guidance for applying them. Discover how to apply your amazing array of personal attributes in ways that bring confidence, freedom, clarity, and significance that can only come from your Creator.Respond in faith. Identify two action steps you can take in the next month to unwrap your gifts and start using them with others. (Hint: Start by serving those closest to you!) 1. With real-life stories, this inspiring and deeply insightful book guides you through a series of challenges that will help you uncover your God-given S.H.A.P.E.--your unique blend of Spiritual Gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality, and Experiences--and apply it in ways that bring confidence, freedom, clarity, and significance to your life.

Uncovering Your S.H.A.P.E. Request help from others. What two sources of wisdom can you seek help from to discover your spiritual gifts? Another translation of Ephesians 2:10 uses the word workmanship to describe our uniqueness. It’s from the Greek word poiema, which literally means work of art, and is the root of our English word poem. You are a work of God—and nothing but the highest and best comes from his hand. Like the artist who takes scrap metal and turns it into an amazing sculpture, God takes our lives and fashions them into a masterpiece. One of a Kind Instead of trying to reshape yourself to be like someone else, you should celebrate the shape God has given you.Your Kingdom Purpose is way more than a career. It is a special commissioning from God to make a significant difference on this earth. It’s the banner of your life that you carry and wave for God’s glory. Now don’t get me wrong, your career could provide you the platform to direct your Kingdom Purpose, but it doesn’t define it. G r a b b i n g H o l d Reflect on what you have learned. What did this chapter show you about spiritual gifts? The fascinating thing to me is that literally everything God makes is unique — every human, animal, flower, tree, and every blade of grass. He didn’t clone anything. Even identical twins possess their own individual uniqueness. That ought to tell us that our individuality is a sacred trust — and what we do with it is our gift to God. Our best contribution in life — our “utmost for his highest” — can only be made as we allow God to finish his work in progress and perfect our uniqueness. To live without discovering our uniqueness is to not really live. I think God is heartbroken when his children miss out on the potential he has placed inside of them.