Our soul winning verse from the Word of God today is John 3:17 which reads: "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."

Our soul winning quote today is from Rebecca Manley Pippert. She said: "Rejoice in your God-given temperament and use it for God's purposes."

Our soul winning devotional is part 40 of our series titled "What Evangelism Is" from Dave Earley and David Wheeler.

Evangelism Is...Being Yourself

You Are Gifted
When you became born again, God took up residence in your life in the person of the Holy Spirit. One of the many benefits of having the Holy Spirit in your life is that He enables you to serve God with greater effectiveness. You have no reason to feel inadequate because the Bible promises that the Holy Spirit will give you dynamic power to be a witness and share the gospel. The Holy Spirit not only gives you power to be a witness in general, but He also gives each of us specific spiritual gifts by which we witness. The Bible clearly teaches several simple truths about spiritual gifts.

1. There are a variety of spiritual gifts.
2. Each believer has at least one gift.
3. Gifts are given by God's choice, not ours.
4. Gifts are to be honestly evaluated.
5. God uses different gifts to diversify His body.
6. Gifts are to be used.
7. There are seven primary spiritual gifts. These are:

Prophecy: verbal proclamation of truth
Ministry/serving: ability actively to meet the needs of others
Teaching: ability to clarify and communicate truth
Exhortation: simple, practical spiritual encouragement
Giving: imparting earthly possessions to meet needs
Leadership: wise use of authority or superintendence; organization
Mercy: identifying with people in need

Every healthy Christian should consistently participate in all seven of these activities. Sometimes the right thing to do is to serve. Other times it is to give. On other occasions the best thing to do is to proclaim the truth. At other times we should offer encouragement or identify with someone who is hurting. These spiritual gifts reflect the ways God has wired us to be most comfortable and effective at serving in the church. They represent strengths God has given us. They also reveal how we feel most confident and have the greatest impact in evangelism.

How Has God Gifted You?
The way to discern how God has gifted you is to evaluate your past and present service for Christ. Which one of the given examples resonates most deeply with you? What are your strengths? Where has God obviously blessed your efforts? What type of service most appeals to you?

Look carefully through the list of primary gifts given in Romans 12 and circle one or two that would be most true of you.

In our next broadcast, we will continue to look at why evangelism is...being yourself.