IDENTITY HEALING & INNER RESTORATION

I Didn’t Know My God-Given Gifts Until I Stopped Performing and Started Being

 God Given Gifts

Let me be honest with you for a second. For years, I showed up. I served. I gave. I wore every hat, volunteered for every project, said yes to every ask all while secretly wondering, God, is this even what You called me to? Because if it is, why does it feel so… hollow? The truth nobody tells you is this: you can be busy in ministry, active in church, and still be completely disconnected from your God-given gifts. That’s not a character flaw. That’s what happens when you’ve been so focused on performing for God that you forgot to just be with God. This post is for the woman who knows there’s more. Who feels the quiet nudge in her spirit that says, “You were made for something specific” but can’t quite name it yet. Let’s change that.

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post are Amazon Affiliate links, or other Affiliate Links meaning that if you click through & make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!

Table of Contents:

I Didn’t Know My God-Given Gifts Until I Stopped Performing and Started Being

Let me be honest with you for a second.

For years, I showed up. I served. I gave. I wore every hat, volunteered for every project, said yes to every ask — all while secretly wondering, God, is this even what You called me to? Because if it is, why does it feel so… hollow?

The truth nobody tells you is this: you can be busy in ministry, active in church, and still be completely disconnected from your God-given gifts. That’s not a character flaw. That’s what happens when you’ve been so focused on performing for God that you forgot to just be with God.

This post is for the woman who knows there’s more. Who feels the quiet nudge in her spirit that says, “You were made for something specific” — but can’t quite name it yet. Let’s change that.

What Are God-Given Gifts, Really?

Before you can discover your God-given gifts, you need to understand what they actually are — because this isn’t about being “naturally talented” at something.

Scripture is clear: “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord.” (1 Corinthians 12:4-5). Your spiritual gifts are grace-given capacities that were placed inside you at salvation — not to make you look good, but to build up the body of Christ and bring glory to God.

They’re not the same as your skills (though they can overlap). They’re not your personality (though God uses that too). They are the divine fingerprint on your life — the specific way God wired you to serve, create, lead, teach, encourage, and impact.

Romans 12:3-8 and 1 Corinthians 12 remind us that every believer has been given gifts according to God’s choosing — not our own. That means you already have what you need. You just need to uncover it.

The Reason You Feel Lost About Your Purpose

You’ve Been Performing Instead of Being

Performance is sneaky. It looks like dedication. It sounds like faithfulness. But performing for God is fundamentally different from being with God — and your gifts can only flow freely from the second posture.

When you’re performing, you’re asking: “What does everyone need from me?” When you’re being, you’re asking: “God, what did You put in me?” Those are very different questions, and they lead to very different answers.

You’ve Defined Yourself by Your Roles

Mom. Wife. Employee. Volunteer. Leader. These are roles — they are not your identity. When you define yourself by what you do, you’ll lose yourself the moment those roles shift, end, or disappoint you.

Your God-given identity doesn’t come from your résumé. It comes from whose you are. “So God created mankind in his own image” (Genesis 1:27). You are an image-bearer of the Most High God — and that truth is the foundation everything else is built on.

You’ve Been Afraid to Claim What God Put in You

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: some of us aren’t confused about our gifts — we’re afraid of them. We’re afraid of the responsibility. Afraid of being seen. Afraid of failure. Afraid that if we step into what God called us to and it doesn’t work, it means God was wrong.

But 2 Timothy 1:6-7 says: “Fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you… for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” Fear is not from God. Hesitation dressed up as humility is not from God. You were made to walk in this.

How to Discover Your God-Given Gifts: 5 Faith-Rooted Steps

Step 1: Get Still and Get Honest

You cannot hear God’s voice about your gifts over the noise of everyone else’s expectations. Before anything else, you need silence. Not passive silence — intentional stillness where you ask: God, what did You create me to do? What feels like oxygen to me? What breaks my heart and also lights me on fire?

Journal your answers without editing them. Don’t ask if they make sense yet. Just listen and write.

Step 2: Look at What Comes Naturally — Then Look Deeper

God-given gifts often feel so natural that you undervalue them. You think, “That’s just how I am” — but that ease is intentional. The woman who can teach a room and make complex things simple? Gift. The one who organizes chaos into peace? Gift. The one who walks into a room and instantly knows how to encourage whoever is hurting most? Gift.

Look at what people consistently thank you for. Look at what you do without being asked. Those are breadcrumbs leading you back to your design.

Step 3: Study the Biblical Gifts Lists

Take time to read Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:8-10, and Ephesians 4:11-12. These lists aren’t exhaustive, but they give you a biblical framework. As you read, pay attention to what resonates — not just intellectually, but in your spirit.

Peter puts it plainly: “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” (1 Peter 4:10). You already received it. The question is whether you’re stewarding it.

📚 Discover Your God-Given Gifts by Don Fortune

Step 4: Step Into the Uncomfortable Yes

Here’s how Christy’s mom discovered her gift: she was terrified to teach Sunday school. She tried it anyway. She studied 15 hours a week for a class of 4th-grade girls — and became a gold standard. Your gift often reveals itself when you say yes before you feel ready.

Stop waiting to feel qualified. Start showing up as obedient. The gift activates in the doing.

Step 5: Build the Kingdom Business God Told You to Build

Here’s where it gets real. A lot of women discover their God-given gifts and then stop there. They acknowledge the gift, maybe even celebrate it — and then go back to doing everything except what God is calling them toward.

If God gave you a gift, He gave it to you for a reason. And that reason is bigger than your comfort zone. You were designed to build something — to serve, to lead, to sell the thing He put in your hands.

Yes. Sell it. That’s not unspiritual. That’s stewardship.

 GRAB THE EBOOK 

If you’ve been sitting on your God-given gifts because you don’t know how to turn them into income — this ebook is your next step.

“God Told Me to Sell” is a $5 guide for Christian women who are ready to stop hiding behind false humility and start building Kingdom-aligned businesses.

Inside you’ll learn why selling is an act of obedience, how to position your gifts in the marketplace, and how to stop second-guessing what God already approved.

 Get “God Told Me to Sell” for just $5 →  glorynation.systeme.io/godtoldmetosell

What Happens When You Stop Performing and Start Being

When I stopped trying to earn my place at the table and simply sat down in the seat God already gave me — everything shifted.

I stopped chasing assignments that were never mine. I stopped apologizing for the things I’m genuinely anointed to do. And I stopped performing a version of myself that was exhausting to maintain.

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)

Those works were prepared. They’re already on the table. Your job isn’t to perform your way to them — it’s to step into what’s already been assigned.

Your God-given gifts are not decorative. They’re directional. They tell you where to go, what to build, who to serve, and how to live. When you walk in them, you stop feeling lost — because you are finally walking in the thing you were always made for.

📚 The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren

📚 S.H.A.P.E.: Finding and Fulfilling Your Unique Purpose for Life

📚 NIV Women’s Devotional Bible

📚 The Gift of Imperfection by Brené Brown (faith edition)

You Were Never Lost — You Were Just Waiting

God doesn’t make mistakes. He didn’t skip you when He was handing out gifts, callings, and purposes. He placed something specific inside you — and He’s been patient, watching for the moment you stop performing long enough to notice it.

You don’t have to have it all figured out. You just have to be willing to be still, be honest, and take the first step.

Your God-given gifts are real. Your identity in Christ is secure. And your calling? It’s been waiting on you.

Now go walk in it. 

GRAB THE EBOOK 

Ready to stop sitting on your gifts and start building?

“God Told Me to Sell” — only $5. Written for Christian women who are done waiting and ready to steward what God gave them.

Get “God Told Me to Sell” for just $5 →  glorynation.systeme.io/godtoldmetosell

About Author

Christy Sanderson, the charismatic yet virtuous award-winning author, entrepreneur, public speaker, and founder of Glory Nation, is helping women find a purpose in life and get closer to Jesus Christ. She is a woman of God who has devoted her life in the service of the first six letters of her name, Christ, the Almighty.

Glory Nation is led by the mighty spiritual and inspirational disciple of God — Christy Sanderson.

Christy Sanderson is an Award Winning Author, Award Winning Entrepreneur of the year, and Public Speaker. She has a Bachelor's in Early Childhood Education, Master's in Special Education and she is an Educator!!! She has authored five other books, Woman of God Who Did God Create You To Be, From Nothing into the Woman of God: Spiritual Life, Woman of God Stop Looking for Love, God's Kingdom: Spiritual & Wealth Motivation and From Nothing into the Woman of God part 2. Christy has been featured on the cover of UBAWA Magazine, and several radio interviews. She was once a Co-Host on the Digital Breeze radio show in Atlanta, Georgia. At the young age of 23, Christy fully committed herself to God, letting Him take total control of her life, and started her own ministry, Glory Nation. Her life purpose is to experience and share God's Glory, to fulfill God's promises, and to help others become closer to Jesus Christ to find their life purpose.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *