Discover Your Spiritual Gifts and Tap Into a Life of Play, Passion, and Purpose
This Week’s Focus: The fourth pillar of wholeness in the divineFlow lifestyle: Discovering your spiritual gifts and using them in life-giving ways.
Ever Felt Like This?
Have you ever felt like life was just passing you by?
Your days are filled with waiting, watching, or simply getting through the motions—yet deep down you know you were made for something more?
Without a sense of purpose, we can feel adrift—like we’re just existing, not really living.
When purpose is missing, emptiness sneaks in. We might distract ourselves with busyness, entertainment, or work but still feel a quiet ache: Does my life really matter?
That emptiness doesn’t just affect the soul.
Research shows a lack of purpose impacts our health and leads to anxiety, depression, and even physical decline. Without something meaningful to live for, our bodies and spirits grow weary. Burned out.
A Short Story
One morning when I visited my mom at her assisted living center, I found her sitting on the edge of her bed, curtains drawn, eyes downcast.
“My life feels useless,” she grumbled. “I just sit here waiting for my next meal. I don’t feel like I have any purpose.”
When I asked her if anything still brought her joy, her eyes lit up. “Well, I love saying the rosary every day. I pray for you kids, for peace in the world. Maybe those prayers help somehow.”
In that moment, I saw her gift: Intercessory prayer.
I leaned toward her and whispered, “Mom, you’re a prayer warrior. Your prayers rise to heaven like morning mist and come back to earth as gentle showers of grace, blessing everyone you love—including me.”
She smiled. “I understand now. I’m not just passing time—I’m offering the gift of my heart to the world.”
Soon after, mom joined a daily prayer group at her center. Her days became filled with connection, laughter, and meaning again.
The Power of Purpose
That’s the power of discovering and living from our spiritual gifts.
In divineFlow, the fourth pillar of wholeness is discovering your gifts and using them—whether big or small—as an expression of God’s love.
When you live from your gifts, you don’t just “do things”—you come alive.
Science affirms what spiritual teachers have always known: people with a clear sense of purpose experience better brain health, reduced risk of disease, deeper joy, and longer lives.
The Japanese have a word for this: ikigai (pronounced: ee-kee-guy). It literally means “reason for being.” It’s the spark that gets you out of bed with energy and passion. It’s the intersection of what you love, what you’re good at, what the world needs, and what brings you joy.
In Okinawa, one of the healthiest places on earth, people attribute their long lives to living with a strong sense of ikigai.
Your ikigai is your sacred thread—woven into your soul by God—waiting to be discovered and lived.
It’s Your Turn
You don’t have to wonder whether you have a gift. You do. Everyone does.
It might be praying. Listening. Hospitality. Organizing. Teaching. Encouragement. Fixing things. Gardening.
Whatever it is, when you embrace your gifts as your sacred spark, you taste the wholeness and joy God intends for you.
I’ve created a free Spiritual Gifts Inventory to help you name and claim your unique gifts. Think of it as a mirror—helping you see how God has wired you for play, passion, and purpose.
? Take the free inventory here
Tools for Your Spiritual Toolbox
What about you?
- What brings you joy?
- What makes you feel most alive?
- Where do you sense God working through you?
Take a few moments to reflect on those questions. Then take the Inventory. Share it with a friend or your community.
Because when you discover your spiritual gifts and use them, you don’t just find your purpose—
you become fully alive.
As St. Irenaeus reminds us: “The glory of God is the human person fully alive.”
Action Step: Find Your Purpose
Ready to discover your ikigai—your sacred purpose?
? Download and take the Spiritual Gifts Inventory today by clicking here.
It may be the spark that awakens you to the life you were created to live.
—brian j plachta
brianplachta.com
P.S. ? Want to go deeper? Listen to my Spirituality on the Go podcast episode: Discover Who You Are Through Your Spiritual Gifts. It’s just 4 minutes—click here to listen: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2434496/episodes/17268186
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