Are Personal Assessments Helpful?

By Dr. Jessica Stone-VP of TruCenter for Missions

In today’s world, most of us have taken at least one, if not several different types of personal inventory assessments. Ranging from one’s personality to strengths/skills to spiritual gifts. Learning about your in-born and learned tendencies can be very affirming. Knowing God created you with unique and distinct qualities can be liberating. One can have a sense of feeling seen and known just by reading in black and white that you have significant contributions to offer the world that set you apart. Potentially, these strengths, gifts, and talents will enable you to accomplish your specific calling in the Kingdom of God. 

Many people are not raised within a family or community that speaks life or destiny over them, and so taking an assessment or having a counselor/coach educate them on the concept of “divine design” can empower an individual in a way that is truly transformational.

The purpose of learning more about who you are and how God wired you, is not to give you an excuse or “trump card” when you behave poorly. Some might use these insights to justify treating others in an unloving way, saying, “God made me this way. This is just who I am! See, this test says so…” On the contrary, in my experience as a professional counselor, I use assessments as a way to help people understand both their strengths and their sin patterns, and then how to use those insights to strategically pray and submit their negative tendencies to the Lordship of Jesus. Each of us must choose, with our will, to sacrifice our fleshly desires, at times, and learn how to operate from a Christ-like nature, uniquely based on the inner wiring God formed in us. 

But without these key revelations, many people will allow their natural tendencies to drive their life, in a way that can be discouraging, and quite taxing on their mental and emotional health. For example, one might have a strong desire for control and create a lot of anxiety for themselves or others if they do not have it, or allowing one’s social preference to frequently be with friends to pull them away from being present for their family, or the will to achieve big accomplishments that becomes an idol over staying in the flow of God’s grace. I have observed many behavioral patterns in my clients, that when unrelinquished to the Holy Spirit, they result in devastating circumstances, including divorce, failure in ministry, and moral corruption. 

The discovery of one’s instinctual nature should not cause someone to become more boastful, rather to bring the believer into a greater reliance on God, continually seeking His wisdom and refinement in the areas of their human brokenness, so that they can be made into the likeness of Christ, more and more. And as we all know, this journey of sanctification is not complete until the day we enter into eternity. So until then, how can you learn more about why you do what you do? And then learn to maximize that for the advancement of God’s Kingdom.

“For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.”  -Romans 7:15-20

Learning to lean into your strengths and God-given talents, while still recognizing the “humanness” of your sinful nature is a journey. It is a work of self-discipline. It is seeking help from the Holy Spirit, and engaging with accountability from those around you, whom you trust. It will cost you. But the benefits? You will experience significantly more contentment and increased joy in your everyday life. This humbling process will enlarge your grace and mercy for others, as you see their natural tendencies in a whole new light, through the eyes of a Creator who designed them that way, with intentionality and purpose! When others behave in a way that could be offensive or hurtful to you, could you view their actions as “unsubmitted” tendencies, and quickly forgive them, as they are a work in progress, just like you?

TruCenter is a one-of-a-kind, narrative based assessment that reveals your God-given motivations to do good works on the earth. It is different from giftings or personality, rather an uncovering of your heart’s innermost desires, which are expressed through your stories. The results help to establish how you were formed, before the foundations of the earth, to be divinely motivated for greatness. If you have not heard of this personal assessment or tried it yet, I would encourage you to do so, it is very inspiring and can reignite passion for the work in missions that you do. It could also help you discover the ministry you want to do if you have been feeling stuck or discontent. The website is www.trucenter.co and you can use coupon code: Missio25 to receive 25% off any of our products at checkout. Our resource library includes missions-specific application of this assessment, based on research conducted with six global sending agencies in 2023. 

Whether you take this assessment or reflect on ones you have taken in the past, remember: “YOU are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” -Ephesians 2:10