At GateWay, we help women find their authentic selves. One of the Coaching tools we use is the SHAPE acrostic.
SHAPE stands for spiritual Gifts, Heart Passions, Abilities, Personality and Experiences. When you know how each of these define you, it will be easier to become an authentic woman.
Spiritual Gifts: These are given to you by God Himself, at the moment that you become a Christian. Spiritual gifts can include something as practical as administration or something as emotional as encouragement.
No one gift is more important than any other as each of us is designed to use our gifts to help the family of God and to be an influence to the rest of the world. For a list of possible gifts, check out 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4 and Romans 12.
Heart Passions: These are the special interests you have, the ambitions and dreams that give you hope and energize you. Heart passions are motivators because when we feel passionate about something, then we want to move forward and make sure that special something actually happens.
Your heart passion may be helping a child learn to read or it might be crafting a novel. Basically, heart passions are those things you love to do.
Abilities: Sometimes we have abilities because we’ve worked hard to develop them. For example, learning how to slam dunk a basketball or play the piano or organize a conference. Abilities are things we do well, things we are able to do without stress. They can also be lost, if we don’t use them.
Personality: In applying for jobs, many of us go through personality assessments. God made us introverts or extroverts or a blending of the two. Our personalities feed into how we work best, what kinds of groups we like to be with and what kind of temperaments we carry. Your personality is what gives you a specific flavor and makes you unique from someone else.
Experiences: Many of our experiences in life come about through circumstances we cannot control, but some are the result of choices we have made. Combined, these experiences color our reactions to new circumstances and sometimes help us make better choices in the future.
A good exercise is to spend time journaling through your own SHAPE acrostic. Once you discover your spiritual gifts, you’ll know better how to fit into a community of believers.
When you underscore your heart passions, you’ll have a better idea of how to play and how to enjoy your life.
As you think about your abilities, you may be grateful that God has given you extra possibilities for work and pleasure. You’re able to do many things because of how God has made you.
When you know your personality type, you can make better choices with regard to relationships and you can accept who you really are.
Most of us think about our experiences during special anniversary dates, especially when we reach some of those milestone birthdays. It’s important to use our experiences as teaching tools for others and for our own futures.
So what about you? Do you know your SHAPE?
©2015 GateWay of Hope – The Helping Place for Hurting Women