Revel in our strengths
As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, I recently took the Strengths Finder 2.0 test. While I was curious to uncover my strengths just for my personal development and clarity, I took the test to better understand how I fit into the ragtag band of misfits of which I’m a part. (You see, this little group and I, we’re going to start living a church, and while we’re not entirely sure what it’s going to look like, we know that we are moving in some church/movement/prayer group/community-starting direction.)
Back to my strengths. I had Woo, Communication, Adaptability, Strategic and Activator. After reading the descriptions, I was pretty thrilled with what I had. I thought the Five were accurate, valuable and affirming of my chosen profession. (The descriptions are written in such a way to make you feel pretty pumped about yourself, no matter which five are listed.)
Unfortunately, a couple of folks in our group weren’t as pleased with their results. Either a strength they really wanted was missing from their top five or they didn’t think four out of five were accurate.
This made me sad – and I don’t even have Empathy as a strength. Rather than revel in who God made them to be (admittedly, it’s a test’s interpretation of who God made them to be), they were frustrated that they weren’t something else. Or, that they weren’t who they perceived they were.
One of the goals of this group is to uncover, endorse and support the unique characteristics and strivings of each individual that becomes a part of whatever it is we do. It’s critical that each of us at the genesis of this group comes to a place where we individually celebrate who and what we are. It’s the only way we’ll make any difference in any lives.
So how about you? Do you know your strengths? If so, how do you feel about them?
