3 Great Ways to Discover Your Christian Superpower

If you’re a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or if you’re old school and actually read comic books growing up, then you know about superpowers. Iron Man could fly, Spider-man could shoot webs, the Incredible Hulk had super strength. They had a power that made them super. America as a nation is called a superpower because it can do things and affect things that most nations couldn’t.

As Christians, you have a superpower, which is actually pretty cool. So, what are your superpowers? Your spiritual gifts, divinely chosen, supernaturally empowered gifts given from God directly to you. Here’s what Scripture says:

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. Acts 1:8

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.  1 Corinthians 12:7

Now, when you think about superpowers, you think about x-ray vision or superhuman strength. You don’t normally think about mercy or giving as superpowers, but they are! They are superhuman abilities given to you by the Holy Spirit to display his power and accomplish God’s work on this earth. Spiritual gifts are your superpower. So, what’s the best way to discover your Christian superpower, your spiritual gifts?

1. Take a test. A standard way to discover what your superpower might be is to take an online spirituals gift test. A solid test to take is spiritualgiftstest.com. Because of the wide variety of theological views on spiritual gifts, online tests will always stray towards the viewpoint of the test creators, so do a little research on who created the test. A second caveat is to understand that a test is not foolproof. You might be answering higher for gifts you hope you have as opposed to gifts you actually have, which is why you need the other two ways to validate.

2. Be affirmed in biblical community. A surefire way to validate your gifts is to walk in biblical community. Ask those around you. Ask those who know you. Paul and elders of a local church were able to validate Timothy’s gifts in the first century (1 Timothy 4:14). If you’re in a small group, Sunday School, Bible study, or if you have a circle of close Christian friends and mentors that are active in your life, they will be able to discern and spot a gift in you that you might not even see in yourself.

3. Serve somewhere. Gifts are given for the common good of the church (1 Corinthians 12:7), meaning they are designed to serve within the body of Christ. If you think you have an idea of what your spiritual gift might be, one of the strongest ways to affirm it is to put it to use. If you think you have the gift of teaching, find an opportunity to teach on a regular basis. If it’s truly a spiritual gift, you’ll know. The teaching itself will be energizing to you. You’ll love the process and walk away full afterwards. And you’ll make a difference. You’re teaching will be effective. People will be drawn to your teaching because they sense the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. If you try to teach and it’s a grind, you finish empty and people are falling away, then that’s probably not your spiritual gift.

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