What is a Redemptive Gift?

The foundational understanding on which all the rest you may explore and discover on this site is this:

A redemptive gift is, as one of seven gifts, your design as Father God gave you at birth.*

In addition to the set of parents to whom you were born and their DNA you carry, you also carry God’s DNA. He imprinted you with His image. (Gen. 1:26-27)

This is where it gets exciting…

The whole of your design includes a carefully selected compilation of characteristics that God knew would be needed and suitable for the particular purpose He had in mind when He created you. This is what your spirit intuitively knows – that you were born to express something special and uniquely you.

Suppose there were markers that, if known, would help bring clarity to your design? God didn’t leave us in the dark. The redemptive gifts provide us with such markers and much more. Identification is just the beginning.

On this side of the Veil, it is wonderful to realize that it is possible to know how God designed us and for what purpose. The greater revelation to our understanding is that God intended for us to know.  

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Located in Romans 12:6-8 is a list of seven motivational (what makes us tick; that which points to what will bring us fulfillment) or redemptive gifts.

We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.
If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.
If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage;
if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously;
if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. (NIV84)

(note: man/his/him is not gender-exclusive; scripture denotes that all people have been given gifts)

The seven redemptive gifts of Romans 12 are identified throughout this site and teaching materials as:

Prophet │Servant │Teacher │Exhorter │Giver │Ruler │Mercy

They are first and foremost, God’s gifts of grace (Greek charisma); an instinctive inward drive or bent. They are not something that we manufacture. They are already present, imparted to us by our Creator.

God, in good pleasure and endless creativity, was intentional in His diversity and distribution of the gifts to all.

~ Nancy

*The seven printable checklists and instructions for the Brief Overview of Redemptive Gifts (Behavioral Characteristics) are a good next step for tools to help you begin to identify God’s original basis of your design. You may also access each checklist separately on the website Home page by clicking on the corresponding photo square category for each of the seven gifts.

Click here for a printable PDF of this article: What Is a Redemptive Gift