Top Five Reasons to Discern Your Charisms
Does God have a plan for my life? Most Christians ask this question at least once in their life. The answer is YES! However, it is up to us to discern what that plan could be. One of the best ways to understand God’s will for your life is to discern your charisms. In short, charisms are gifts God gives each of us to be channels of His providence for others. So, let’s look at the TOP FIVE reasons you discern your charisms RIGHT NOW:
1. Charisms are clues to your vocation. Understanding your charism can help you understand where God wants you to serve. Charisms become the tools God gives us to accomplish our mission! For example, if you have a gift for teaching, then He might be asking you to serve in one of our excellent Catholic schools!
2. Allows us to make good decisions. When you understand your gifts, you can act from them. In the process of discerning your gifts, you develop a dialogue with the God who bestows the gifts. This process and dialogue are the cornerstones of good decision-making. In conversation with God, we stay close to Him and His will. He enables you to make decisions that allow you to use your gifts to their full potential.

3. Knowing your charisms helps you avoid judging yourself because you are not like others. St. Paul says we all have different gifts. “All these are inspired by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.” (1 Cor 12:11) When we know our own areas of giftedness, we can grow in confidence in our own unique contributions. When we are confident in our own unique contributions, we can rejoice in the contributions of others. We don’t have to worry about comparisons!
4. Knowing your charisms helps you avoid:
a. Burn-out
b. Ineffectiveness
c. Frustration
Spending days fitting a square peg in a round hole is exhausting! That’s what it means to strive after mission goals outside your charisms. Jeremiah 29:11 says that God knows the plans he has for us. Plans for our welfare and not our harm. That is such a gift! God knows why He created each of us, God knows the part we each play in the rebuilding of His Kingdom. He chose us and created us and gifted us specifically. Therefore, when we act outside those plans or chase after gifts that are not our own, we miss the graces he wants to bestow on us. What we get instead is feelings of frustration and ineffectiveness because God opens the doors he intends for us to walk through. So, stop trying to pry open doors in places you aren’t meant to go!
5. Make a Difference in the World. We all wish to make contributions that do good in the world. Charisms are God’s providence for others. When we exercise our charisms, we cannot help but make an impact in the lives of the people for whom the gift is intended. We become agents, co-workers in the vineyard and for those in need of these gifts, we become another Christ.
God does have a purpose and a plan for your life. And it is this: to help in the rebuilding of His Kingdom. Each of us gets to contribute in unique ways! He knows our hearts, our longings, and exactly what will make us the happiest and fulfilled. Now it’s up to you to discern that plan!
To find out more about Charisms and how to bring the Called and Gifted Program to your parish, email me!
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