How to Develop Your Dream

Developing your dream essentially means developing yourself. God has entrusted you with this dream. While you may not know every detail of how it will come to pass, the dream itself does not really need to be worked on. Once you awakened to the dream, the real work will be done inside of you. You are being prepared to make the dream a reality. What you think is the clarification of your dream or a revelation of the next step to take, is actually you becoming more of who God created you to be.

Motivational Gifts

Growing up at home, my parents learned of motivational gift tests through the church we attended. Motivational gifts are found in Romans 12:4-8:

"For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness."

These motivational gifts are identified as prophecy (perception), serving, teaching, exhorting, giving, administration (leadership) and mercy. Most people will find that they test higher in two gifts. This is not to say that you cannot operate in some capacity in any of these areas, but generally speaking you will more often than not be driven by one of two of these gifts. These gifts are what motivate you to be involved with the passions you have and how you walk out that interaction. My father encouraged me to take the test as a teenager. I found it very interesting and I tested highest in perception (prophecy) followed up by teaching. I’ve taken the test other times throughout my life and consistently scored highest in those areas. My dad and I scored very similarly and we would laugh at how low we scored in mercy and serving. Hahaha! Helping other people! So lame!!! Alright, we did not say that.

Ascension Gifts

Spiritual gifts are found in other places in the New Testament. For clarification, I will discuss them briefly. Some times referred to as the “ascension gifts,” Ephesians 4 lists apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers as gifts Christ gave to the church. You will notice that there are a couple areas of crossover with Ephesians 4 and Romans 12. The main difference is that those gifted in these areas are specifically called to equip the body of Christ. Their main call is to walk in these giftings whereas the majority of the Church will have a calling that incorporates the motivational gifts and other talents. The equippers are here to help your God dream become reality.

Gifts of the Spirit

In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul informs the Church of Corinth about the nine gifts of the Spirit. Christ gives out the “ascension” gifts and the Holy Spirit gives out these gifts which include word of knowledge, word of wisdom, prophecy, faith, healing, miracles, discerning of spirits, tongues and interpretation of tongues. Hey! There’s prophecy again! I guess God really wants to talk to His people about the future. Once again it is possible to walk in all of these nine spiritual gifts at some point, but more than likely there may be a few that you will primarily operate in. We are all on a journey. No one is born as a pastor. They have to grow up even if that is the call of God for their life. Everyone has a different story and arrives at the destination through various paths that God leads. Do not think, “I’m not that and I never will be.” This is the development of your dream — the development of you.

George's Dream

We will follow the dream development of fictional “George.” He may or may not be curious. He definitely wants to know why he is here. For the purposes of this story “gift” will refer to the spiritual or motivational gifts that George has. His talent is any natural capacity that he possess. George has a special place in his heart for children. He thinks God wants to use him to help them somehow but it is all a mystery at this point. One day he hears that his church needs help in the nursery watching two year olds. Despite the horror stories that he has heard about terrible twos, George takes the plunge and volunteers once a month in the two year old class. As he helps out every month, He realizes what a privilege it is to have a small part in the development of these children. He cherishes the moments where he is able to console an upset child or help a first time toddler feel more at home. George’s church has a spiritual gift emphasis week and he learns that he scores very high in mercy. This is actually not too big of a surprise to him as he has always been the shoulder to cry on for many friends and family throughout his life. While his ministry with the kids is going great, George feels the pull to do more with his musical gift. He has played the piano for years and knows the worship team is always looking for musicians and singers. Once again he jumps in with both feet and begins using his talent for music to bless many. As George continues to work with the kids and play the piano during worship services an idea surfaces one day. He says to himself “What if I taught kids how to play music? What if I recorded music for kids? Maybe I could do a course on music for kids. I could help build self-confidence in kids through music!" In the process of following his heart and doing what was in front of him, George’s dream was awakened — his heart: help kids; his gift: mercy; his talent: music. These all lead to a dream that incorporated every part of him, his experience and his expertise. This is how the development of a dream works. In the middle of serving others you find what you are made to do. We are meant to be in fellowship with other believers. Iron sharpening iron is most effectively done in God’s church. Planting yourself in God’s house allows your dream to flourish. Get involved in the local church and see your dreams come alive!