I just finished a strength’s finder assessment. Like other behavioral assessments, it tells us how our behavior shows up naturally. Clifton Strengths calls them talents. In Bible language, we call them gifts. What is the difference between your strengths and your gifts? Not much, really. It all comes down to how you use them.
There is something about behavioral assessments that we all love. After all, it is describing us. More than that, they typically identify things that we are good at and, we tend to enjoy the things we are good at, so we get the warm fuzzies. But, there is a dark side to these reports that we may not pay much attention to. It’s the opposite of our strengths. These are our weaknesses.
Now, Clifton Strength’s does not come right out and say what our weaknesses are. Instead, they highlight my top 5 strengths. These are the things that I am really good at. It would be easy to stop right there. In fact, I should just go focus on those 5 things and life will be great, right? Wrong. Do you know why? Well, according to Clifton Strenght’s there are 34 profiles. That means that I am not great at 28 of them! Ouch.
Believe it or not, this is by design. Romans 12:4-6 tells us that “in his grace, God has given us certain gifts for doing things well” (NLT). Problem is, we are not each given all the gifts. In order to experience all the gifts, we need to be connected to each other. Paul makes this clear in 1 Corinthians. Verse 4 explains that through Jesus, we are not lacking any gift. That means Clifton would show me with all 34 profiles!
Of course, it doesn’t work that way. We have to remember that this letter was written to the whole church, not an individual (v2). Therefore, it is in the church, connected to other Christ-followers that we are fully equipped, “not lacking any gift.” Are you sharing yours?