Using Your God-Given Talents

Every one of us has been blessed with God-given talents. And yes, that absolutely includes you. You don’t have to take our word for it either—the Bible clearly spells it out in the first half of Romans 12:6 (NLT), which says, “In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well.” That’s a promise we can take to the bank!

But even though we know God has blessed us with certain talents, using your God-given talents can still be a challenge. It can be difficult to know where you can put your gifts to use, and sometimes it’s hard to know what exactly your talents are.

So, if you’re struggling with either of those things, here are some tips for using your God-given talents and figuring out what they are in the first place.

How to Use Your God-Given Talents

There are two main ways to use your God-given talents: You can use them at work, and you can use them to serve others.

Using Your God-Given Talents at Work

The world needs you. Yes, you. You were created with unique gifts and talents, and the world needs you to use them. You were also created to fill a unique role, and the world needs you to do that too.

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We just looked at the first half of Romans 12:6, which promised us that we each have God-given talents. In the second half of that verse (NKJV), the Apostle Paul took it a step further by telling us that using our God-given talents isn’t an option. The very next thing he wrote was, “Let us use them.” That’s a pretty clear instruction!

That’s why it’s vital for you to work in a job that lets you use your God-given talents. We spend most of our lives at work, and we completely waste our talents if we don’t spend any of that time using them.

It’s honestly sad that so many people settle for a J-O-B just to collect a paycheck at the end of the month. Because work absolutely doesn’t have to be like that.

You can 100% work in a job that lets you use your God-given talents every single day. In fact, you not only can do that—you should do that. You have a responsibility to use the unique talents you’ve been blessed with, and you shouldn’t keep them locked up inside of you.

So, if you’re not currently working in a job where you get to use your biggest talents, it’s time to make a career change. Think about what kind of job would let you use your talents every single day and start applying.

If you’re not sure where to start as you look for a new career or you aren’t having any luck in the application process, pick up a copy of Ken Coleman’s #1 national bestseller The Proximity Principle. Ken will teach you his proven strategy to get started in a career that lets you do work you love and use your God-given talents.

Using Your God-Given Talents to Serve Others

In addition to using our God-given talents in our jobs, we need to use the things we do well to bless those around us. As the Bible reminds us in 1 Peter 4:10 (NIV), “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others.”

We always say at Ramsey Solutions that giving is the most fun you’ll ever have with money, and the same is true for your talents.

Maybe your God-given talents are instruction and leadership. If so, you could use those gifts to serve by volunteering as a Financial Peace University coordinator and pouring into others as they try to take control of their money and transform their lives.

If you’re gifted at connecting with others and making them feel special, spending time mentoring kids and teens at your church or a local youth center would be a great way to serve. You could also carve out time every week to simply talk with your friends and make sure they feel loved and valued. Service doesn’t have to only be with strangers!

While the main reason we give of our time and talents to serve others is the impact we’ll have on them, service makes an impact on us as well. There’s something unbelievably rich and fulfilling about knowing you made an impact on someone and blessed them.

And you want to know something crazy? Your service to others doesn’t have to happen just when you’re off the clock. Seriously. It’s possible to work in a job that lets you do work you’re passionate about and accomplish results that matter deeply to you (we call that your mission) all while using your God-given talents.

When those three things line up—your biggest talents, passions and mission—you get to live on purpose and do work you love. That’s what Ken Coleman’s book From Paycheck to Purpose is all about, and reading it will help you develop a plan to find work that gives you both a great income and a big impact.

How to Identify Your God-Given Talents

Of course, before you can put your God-given talents to use, you’ve got to identify what they are. You need to hear this: Identifying your God-given talents isn’t an option. It’s a responsibility. The world needs those extraordinary things you have to offer, which means you have an obligation to figure out what those things are.

Here’s the great news: Getting clear on your talents is easier than you think.

Questions to Identify Your God-Given Talents

The best way to identify your God-given talents is to spend time thinking about what you do well. Here are some great questions to ask yourself that will lead you in the right direction:

• What’s a task or role that comes easily to me?
• What am I good at?
• Where did I excel in school?
• What’s something I don’t have to work to be good at because I just am good at it?
• What do my coworkers compliment me on most often?
• If someone asked my friends what I do really well, what would they say?
• What do I bring to a team?
• What are my biggest character strengths?

Answer those questions, then take the answers and consider what they say about you and your talents. When you do that, you should start to get a pretty good idea of what talents God has blessed you with.

You can also take Ken Coleman’s Get Clear Career Assessment, which will give you a custom report that clarifies and verifies your top talents while helping you identify the work you were born to do.

Traps to Avoid When Identifying Your God-Given Talents

For the questions above to work, though, there are some traps you need to avoid. One of those is trying to sound too good when you answer them. We’re not looking for Shakespeare-quality stuff here, so don’t be afraid to write something down even if you don’t think it sounds “poetic” enough. Just answer the questions honestly. You can polish later.

Another trap people fall into is getting too specific about what their talents are. If you decide one of your God-given talents is being good at describing scents from a cologne shop to other people who are interested in purchasing cologne for themselves, you’re off the mark. That’s way too specific, and it puts you in a box.

Chances are, though, if you’re a good cologne describer, you’re a good communicator in general. So maybe one of your God-given talents is being a natural, strong communicator. That gives you a lot more options than being a cologne describer would.

There’s one final trap we want to warn you about: thinking too little of yourself. That’s when you answer one of the questions above honestly and then start to doubt. The lizard brain’s thoughts start to creep in: I know all my friends would say I’m a great listener, but that’s just not true. I spend too much time on myself, and I don’t care about others as much as I should.

Stop! You’re beating yourself up for no reason, and you’re plain wrong. If you answered those questions above and those answers led you to identifying one of your talents as being a good listener, it’s a pretty safe bet that you are, indeed, a really good listener.

Don’t underestimate yourself and let doubt creep in. Trust the process. If you are concerned that you missed the mark, run your answers by a close friend or two. Ask them, “Do these talents sound like me? Are these actually things I’m good at?” Their feedback should give you a confidence boost.

What Does the Bible Say About Talent?

We’ve already gone over a few Bible verses that talk about using your God-given talents, so let’s review those.

• The first half of Romans 12:6 (NLT) tells us that God gives each of us a special talent. “In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well.”
• The second half of Romans 12:6 (NKJV) gives us an important commandment related to those talents: Use them! “Let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith.”
• 1 Peter 4:10 (NIV) reminds us that we shouldn’t keep our gifts to ourselves—we should use them to bless those around us. “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others.”

That’s not all the Bible has to say about talent though. It gives us a few other important teachings too. Like . . .

• All of our talents—not just some of them—come from God. That’s why He deserves the praise, not us! James 1:17 (NKJV) says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”
• Every single one of us has something to offer, because God doesn’t make junk! That’s what King David told us in Psalm 139:14 (NKJV) when he wrote, “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
• Nobody has talents that are more important than someone else’s. No, really. Sure, some talents may make more money than others, but they’re all equally important to God because they all work together to make something amazing—just like all the parts of the body. 1 Corinthians 12:18–19 (NKJV) teaches us that: “God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be?”

All of the Bible verses about talent we’ve looked at point to one conclusion: We need to put our God-given talents to use. But first, we have to figure out what they are—so it’s time for you to identify your God-given talents so you can use them every day.

The world needs you and what you have to offer.