Gift of Prophecy (Illustrated by the life of Peter)

Characteristics:

· Need to express themselves

· Form quick impressions of people

· Alertness to dishonesty

· Desire for justice

· Open about own faults

· Whole hearted involvement (need to be on the inside)

· Loyal to truth vs. people

· Willingness to suffer for right

· Persuasive in defending truth

Carnal Uses:

· Exposing without restoring

· Jumping to conclusions

· React harshly to dishonesty (sinners)

· Being unforgiving

· Condemning themselves

· Being impetuous

· Cutting off people who fail

· Lacking tactfulness in rebuke

· Dwelling on the negative

Gift of Serving (Illustrated by the life of Timothy)

Characteristics:

· See and meet practical needs

· Free others to achieve

· Disregard for weariness

· Difficulty in saying “No”

· Alert in likes and dislikes (and remember what other likes)

· Need approval

· Like short range projects

· Put extra touches on a job

· Meet needs quickly (will sacrifice)

Carnal Uses:

· Giving unrequested help

· Letting things to be too important

· Working beyond physical limits

· Neglecting God-given priorities (neglect needs of own families and often serve others)

· Reacting to overlooked needs

· Resenting lack of appreciation

· Make other people work around their own schedule

· Being frustrated with time limits

· Interfering with God’s discipline

Gift of Teaching (Illustrated by the life of Luke)

Characteristics:

· Need to validate information

· Check out teachers (and credentials before listening)

· Rely on established resources

· Present truth systematically

· Gather many facts

· Require thoroughness

· Uneasy with subjective truth

· Persevere with “accepted teachers” (people rather than truth)

· Clarify misunderstanding

Carnal Uses:

· Becoming proud of knowledge

· Despising lack of credentials

· Depend on human reasoning

· Criticizing practical application

· Show off research skills

· Rejecting scriptural pre-suppositions

· Putting mind above the Holy Spirit

· Taking teachings to extremes

· Arguing over minor points

Gift of Exhorting (Illustrated by the life of Paul)

Characteristics:

· Committed to spiritual growth

· Able to see root problems

· See steps of actions

· Raise hope for solutions

· Turn problems into benefits

· Desire to be transparent (love to use illustrations)

· Gain insight through experiences

· Urgency to act on clear steps of actions

· Desire to share face to face

Carnal Uses:

· Keeping others waiting on them

· Looking to themselves for solutions

· Being proud of visible results

· Starting projects for prematurely

· Treating people into projects

· Sharing private illustrations

· Presenting truth out of balance

· Setting unrealistic goals

· Giving up on uncooperative people

Gift of Giving (Illustrated by the life of Matthew)

Characteristics:

· Able to see resources (alert to resources)

· Invest self with gift

· Desire to give high quality

· Hope gift answers prayer

· Desire to give secretly

· Concern that giving will corrupt

· Exercise personal thriftiness (how much did I save?)

· Use gifts to multiply giving

· Confirm amount with counsel

Carnal Uses:

· Hoarding resources for self

· Using gift to control people

· Forcing higher living standards

· Feeling guilty about personal asset

· Rejecting pressure appeals

· Giving too sparingly to own family

· Giving to projects vs. people

· Causing people to look to him vs. God

· Waiting too long to give

Gift of Organizing (Illustrated by the life of Nehemiah)

Characteristics:

· Able to visualize final results

· Need loyalty in associates

· Ability to delegate (know what and when)

· Ability to withstand reaction to tasks

· Make job look easy

· Very alert to details

· Complete tasks quickly

· Able to be decisive

· Completion involves cleanup

Carnal Uses:

· Viewing people as only resources

· Build loyalty with favoritism

· Using delegation to avoid work

· Being unresponsive to appeals

· Putting projects ahead of people

· Overlooking worker’s serous faults

· Failing to explain or praise

· Forcing decisions on others

· Losing interest in finished job

Gift of Mercy (Illustrated by the life of John)

Characteristics:

· Deeply loyal to friends

· Need for deep friendships

· Emphathize with hurting people

· Decisions based on benefits

· Deeply sensitive to loved ones

· Attract people in distress

· Desire to remove hurts

· Measure acceptance by closeness

· Attracted to gift of prophets

Carnal Uses:

· Taking up offences

· Becoming possessive

· Tolerating evil

· Failing to be firm

· Leaning on emotions vs. reason

· Defrauding opposite sex

· Reacting to God's purposes

· Failing to show deference

· Cutting off insensitive people