Your SPECIAL Design

“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart.” (Jeremiah 1:5)

God has created each one of us for a unique mission and he has equipped us with the exact abilities and talents to accomplish that mission. We can use the acronym SPECIAL to consider the talents and abilities God has given each one of us.

Spiritual Gifts

As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

—1 Peter 4:10

At the time that we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit gives each of us one or more spiritual gifts. It is the Holy Spirit who determines which gift or gifts we receive. These spiritual gifts are different from the natural abilities a person already possesses at the time of their spiritual birth. These gifts equip us for special service within the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit has spiritually gifted you for a unique role and mission.

Personality Traits

When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb … The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home.

—Genesis 25:24, 27

We are born with different personalities. These personal qualities affect how we think, what we value, and what we do. There are many traits that are blended into various personality combinations. While the world may value certain personality types more than others, God has designed each and every person with their own personality, and he can use those personalities in a powerful way.

Extraordinary Background

A person’s steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand their own way?

—Proverbs 20:24

Our family roots, educational opportunities, vocational history, friendships and acquaintances, and major life events all combine to give us a totally unique background. God orchestrates the events and circumstances of our lives so we will have the knowledge, relationships, and experiences necessary to fulfill our individual missions in life.

Central Motivation

I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

—Philippians 3:13–14

There are many different motivations that drive us. However, in each person there are one or two primary drives that exceed all the others. A central motivation is a God-given drive that he built into you. Your central motivation includes your abilities, your interests, the circumstances in which you are most productive, the relationships that bring out the best in you, and what kind of end result brings you the most joy. All of these factors fit together to give you a motivational pattern. As we discern what our motivation is, each one of us needs to focus that drive toward God’s eternal purposes.

Inherited Abilities

All who are skilled among you are to come and make everything the Lord has commanded.

—Exodus 35:10

Different people have different inherited abilities. These natural abilities enable us to do certain things well. The abilities that you have were not randomly assigned. God has given you inherited abilities so you can better serve him and his kingdom.

Approved Adversity

Do you find it hard to believe that God was instrumental in putting you in your circumstances?

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”

“It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.”

—John 9:1–3

God has intentionally made each one of us for a special purpose! However, that doesn’t mean that all things will be easy. Adversity is one of the tools used by God to shape us. Sometimes God allows trials into our lives to build our character and enable us to minister to others who face similar difficulties.

Lifelong Mission

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

—Ephesians 2:10

God has given you a special design because he has assigned you a special mission. There are certain things that God has chosen you to do and he has custom designed you so you can do them better than anyone else. God wants you to participate in the plan that he has crafted for your life, but it’s up to you as to whether or not you will do them.

These are the various facets of your SPECIAL design. You are totally unique. There is no one like you. And that didn’t happen by chance; it happened by the ingenious design of our Creator.

In what ways are you SPECIAL?

Converterlators embrace the unique abilities and talents that God has given them and participate in his plan to use them.