Document 3 · Part 4

Part Five: Scoring Your Inclinations

For each gift you now have two numbers from Part Four: an Experience subtotal (sum of the five statements, out of 15) and a Pull score (the single…

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This is an example — do it online or on paper

The answer spaces below show how this worksheet is laid out. Online, your scores are tallied for you and your top five gifts are ranked automatically — then you reflect in your private journal. To work through it on paper, download this page as a printable PDF or Word document; to do it online, create a free account.

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How to score

For each gift you now have two numbers from Part Four: an Experience subtotal (sum of the five statements, out of 15) and a Pull score (the single Calling Indicator, out of 3). Both matter. Read them together.

Reading the Experience subtotal (out of 15)

The Experience subtotal alone, without considering Pull, falls in these bands:

ScoreWhat it suggestsHow to read it
5–7Not a primary areaOn the basis of these answers, this is not likely to be one of your primary gifts. This is fine — no one has every gift.
8–10Some inclinationThere is some inclination here that may be worth exploring, but it is unlikely to be a primary gift.
11–13Likely an area to exploreAn inclination strong enough to be worth deliberate exploration, prayer, and confirmation in community.
14–15Strong indication — seek confirmationA strong indication that this may be a gift the Spirit has given you. Seek confirmation in your church and through actually serving in this area over time.

Reading Experience and Pull together — the four quadrants

The honest reading combines both numbers. Pull lets you account for what scripture itself accounts for: gifts that are present but not yet exercised. Pastorally, it matters whether a low Experience score reflects the absence of a gift or the dormancy of one.

Experience (/15)Pull (/3)ReadingWhat it means for you
11+OftenEstablished and growingA gift in active operation, with continuing pull to grow further. Steward it.
11+Never or SometimesEstablished, possibly plateauedA gift in operation, but without strong sense of further calling. Continue faithfully; consider whether the Spirit has new things in this area.
<11OftenDormant — fan into flameLimited experience yet, but a persistent Spirit-given pull. Take seriously: seek opportunity, mentoring, and confirmation in community. Begin to act.
<11Never or SometimesProbably not primaryNeither significant experience nor settled pull. This is most likely not a primary gift area for you, and that is fine.

A few things worth noting about how to use this:

  • “Dormant — fan into flame” is not licence to claim any gift you wish. The pull must be settled, persistent, and Spirit-given — not the wish to be impressive or the latest stirring from a sermon. Test it with mature Christians who know you.
  • “Established, possibly plateaued” is not a failure category. Many faithful servants steward gifts for decades without dramatic new movement. The question is whether you have grown stale in stewarding what is given.
  • Top-five selection uses a combined score: Experience plus (Pull × 5). This means a high Pull on a dormant gift can lift it into your top five, which is exactly what scripture would have you do — take seriously what the Spirit is stirring, even before there is fruit to point to.
  • Compare with your preliminary reflection. Where your Pull scores match what you sensed in Part Three, you are receiving converging evidence. Where they conflict, listen carefully to both.

Your gift summary

Transfer your Experience subtotal and Pull score from Part Four into the table below. Calculate Combined as Experience + (Pull × 5) — a number from 10 to 30. Write the Reading from the four-quadrant table above. Mark your top five (by Combined score) with a tick.

#GiftExp /15Pull /3CombinedPatternTop 5?
1Mercy_____________________
2Healing_____________________
3Helps_____________________
4Giving / Contributing_____________________
5Hospitality_____________________
6Administration / Leading_____________________
7Exhortation / Encouragement_____________________
8Teaching_____________________
9Pastoring / Shepherding_____________________
10Word of Wisdom_____________________
11Word of Knowledge_____________________
12Discernment of Spirits_____________________
13Apostleship_____________________
14Evangelism_____________________
15Prophecy_____________________
16Tongues and Interpretation_____________________
17Faith_____________________
18Miracles / Workings of Powers_____________________

Your top areas (write here)

My top three to five inclinations from this assessment, by combined score, are:

Of these, the ones that feel most like “established” gifts are:

And the ones that feel most like “dormant — fan into flame” gifts are:

These are most consistent with what I noted in my preliminary reflection because…

Where these differ from my preliminary reflection, I notice…

Reading your results — a narrative interpretation

Once you have your top areas in front of you, it helps to read them as a single picture rather than a list of separate scores. The pattern matters as much as the individual numbers. Here is how to read what the assessment may be showing you.

This is a tool to aid your discernment — not a definitive answer. The reading below reflects only the responses you have given, not what the Spirit has given you. Read it alongside prayer, scripture, and conversation with your spouse, trusted believers, and your church’s elders.

Six possible readings

Every completed assessment will fall into one of six categories. Online, the platform displays the appropriate reading automatically; on the printable version, identify which one fits your data.

1. Established gifts and emerging gifts, with alignment.

Your responses appear to show current gifts oriented in particular areas, with further gifts that have not yet been exercised but where your Calling Indicator is strong, and the two clusters appear to point in the same direction. This convergence is worth weighing seriously in prayer and conversation.

2. Established gifts and emerging gifts, no clear alignment.

Your responses appear to show both established and emerging gifts, but they appear to point in different directions. This itself is worth bringing to prayer and to trusted believers — it may indicate a transition season, a wider scope of calling than first thought, or a gift not yet recognised.

3. Established gifts only, no clear emerging gifts.

Your responses appear to show current gifts in particular areas, with no further gifts strongly emerging. This may simply mean that for this season, faithful stewardship of what is already given is the calling. Continue in these gifts; the Lord is honoured by faithful long obedience.

4. No established gifts yet, but emerging gifts.

Your responses appear to show no gifts yet operating in established form, but a strong Calling Indicator in particular areas. This is a season for prayer, for stepping forward in small concrete ways under wise oversight, and for asking trusted believers and your church’s leaders to walk this discernment with you.

5. No clear pattern — neither established nor emerging.

Your responses do not yet show a clear pattern. This is not a failure of the assessment or of you — it is common for newer believers, those in transition, or those who have not yet had opportunity to serve in a wide range of ways. Begin by serving faithfully in any of the New Testament good works, and revisit this assessment in six or twelve months. The Spirit reveals gifts through the doing. Where there is no clear winner, this is also a good moment to consult close family and your church’s leaders for an open discussion — remembering that this tool aids understanding rather than providing a definitive answer.

6. Incomplete responses.

If fewer than twelve of the eighteen gifts have data, the assessment cannot give a meaningful reading. Return when you can complete more of it. If you find yourself unable to complete it at all, that may itself be worth bringing to a trusted believer or your church’s leaders for an open conversation.

Whatever the reading shows

Whatever the results show, treat them as the start of a conversation, not a verdict. Take time to meditate prayerfully on scripture’s teaching about gifts and calling (1 Cor 12; Rom 12; Eph 4; 1 Pet 4; 1 Tim 4:14–15; 2 Tim 1:6). Discuss the results with your spouse, with mature believers who know you well, and with your church’s leaders. Where the discernment converges, ask your elders to pray for you and, where they discern it appropriate, to lay hands on you and release you into the work prepared in advance for you to walk in (Eph 2:10; Acts 13:1–3).

Your reflection on the results

Take time to write your own honest reflection. The discipline of writing slows you down and surfaces what reading the table alone cannot.

1. Does this reading align with what you expected, or what you have been sensing?

2. Where it does align — what do you think the Lord may be confirming for you in this season?

3. Where it does not align — what alternative reading do you hold, and why?

4. Who are the two or three trusted believers (and which elders) you will discuss this with? When?

5. What is one concrete next step you will take in the next two weeks, before the next conversation?

Remember: this assessment is a tool to aid discussion, not a definitive answer. Spiritual gifts are confirmed in the body of Christ, over time, through the prayer of mature believers and the laying on of hands of your church’s leaders.

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Part Five: Scoring Your Inclinations
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Document 3 · The Self-Assessment Guide · section 5 of 11

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