What is the purpose of understanding our strengths as Christians? This two-part series will examine why Christians need to understand our strengths and how Christians can talk about them without appearing boastful.
Understanding our strengths teaches us to lean into and utilize our God-given talents and abilities to glorify God through our work. Recognizing our strengths helps us serve others, build a positive workplace culture, and fulfill our calling to work diligently unto the Lord. This aligns with biblical principles such as Colossians 3:23-24, which encourages us to work heartily and serve for the Lord. Additionally, understanding our strengths can lead to greater job satisfaction, productivity, and overall fulfillment in our job, ultimately leading to a more fulfilling and purposeful life in service to God.
Here are three ideas for how to identify your strengths:
- Get other’s observations! Often, the people closest to us can provide valuable insights about our strengths that we might overlook. Ask your friends, family, colleagues, and/or mentors about what they think you do better than the average person. Their observations might surprise you and offer a fresh perspective on your abilities.
- Review your performance evaluations at work. Performance reviews are typically designed to highlight both strengths and areas for improvement. Pay close attention to the positives in these reviews, especially over time. What tasks or skills have gotten positive comments? These indicate areas where you naturally excel.
- Conduct a self-analysis. Write down all of your typical activities during a weekday. What tasks do you complete with ease? What activities do you enjoy and consistently perform well? Repeat the process for a weekend day. These could be big clues to your inherent strengths.
Our next post will examine a paradox: how do we talk about our strengths without seeming boastful?
Chew on This:
Do you have a good sense of your strengths? Why or why not?
