Woven for Healing

Patrizia a.k.a. Trixi Schwartz
5 days ago
5 min read

A visual map of grace, mercy, and calling shaped by love and woven together in Christ

There comes a moment in every faith journey when we stop asking, “What should I do?🤔” and begin asking, “What has God already placed within me?🤔”

The Scriptures remind us that calling is not something we manufacture through effort or ambition. It is something we receive, steward, and grow into through obedience and surrender.

📖 "Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them." — Romans 12:6 (NKJV)

Patrizia’s Spiritual Gifts Wheel was born out of that realisation. Not as a personality exercise or a hierarchy of gifting, but as a visual map of grace, showing how God’s gifts flow together when Christ remains at the centre of my life.

💖The Heart of the Wheel

At the centre of the wheel sits Mercy.

Not as a weakness. Not as sentimentality, but as strength shaped by compassion.

Mercy is the lens through which every other gift is expressed. It is the gift that stays present with pain, honours process, and creates a safe space for healing. When mercy is protected and stewarded well, everything else turns smoothly. When it is neglected, even strong gifts begin to strain.

📖 "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." — Matthew 5:7 (NKJV)

The wheel reminds me that gifting is not about visibility. It is about faithfulness.

🎁Gifts That Flow from the Centre

Radiating outward from mercy are the remaining gifts described in Romans 12. Each one has its own expression, yet none stand alone.

Exhortation (Encouragement) gives voice to hope. It strengthens weary hearts and gently calls people forward without pressure or manipulation.
Teaching brings clarity with compassion. It makes truth accessible to wounded hearts, favouring understanding over performance.
Serving (Helps) expresses love through action. It shows up quietly, prepares faithfully, and carries responsibility without the need for recognition.
Giving reflects the generosity of heart. It releases time, creativity, presence, and resources while trusting God as the source.
Leadership appears as shepherding rather than commanding. It leads by example, integrity and steadiness, inviting others to walk rather than demanding they follow.
Administration provides order in the service of peace. It supports the calling without becoming the calling.

📖 "Let all things be done decently and in order." — 1 Corinthians 14:40 (NKJV)

Each gift matters. Each gift has its place. None are meant to compete.

🛞A Wheel, Not a Ladder

The image of a wheel is intentional.

A ladder suggests climbing, comparison and arrival, but a wheel speaks of movement, balance and flow.

This wheel turns best when mercy remains central, when rest is honoured and when gifts are exercised in humility rather than striving. It reminds us that spiritual maturity is not about doing more, but about becoming more rooted in Christ.

📖 "Abide in Me, and I in you." — John 15:4 (NKJV)

🔍A Tool for Discernment and Rest

Patrizia’s Spiritual Gifts Wheel is not meant to confine or label. It is meant to clarify, affirm and protect.

It offers language for what has already been bearing fruit.

It authorises the release of gifts that drain rather than nourish.

It invites prayerful reflection on boundaries, rest, and stewardship.

For seasons of fatigue, it gently reminds the heart where the centre belongs.

💡A Closing Reflection

Calling is not proven by how much we carry. It is revealed by how faithfully we love.

May this wheel serve as a reminder that God’s gifts are given in grace, sustained by grace, and fulfilled through grace.

📖 "He has sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted… to give them beauty for ashes." — Isaiah 61:1–3 (NKJV)

May mercy remain at the centre, and may every gift turn in step with Him.

🔍Discerning Your Own Spiritual Gift Rankings

Reflection questions to help you notice the order of grace already at work within you

Spiritual gifts are rarely discovered by striving or comparison. More often, they are recognised by fruit, faithfulness and the quiet pull of love over time.

These questions are not a test to pass, nor a formula to force an answer. They are an invitation to notice patterns, to listen honestly and to allow the Holy Spirit to reveal what He has already been shaping.

Set aside unhurried time. Read slowly. Pray gently. Write honestly.

📖 "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves." — 2 Corinthians 13:5 (NKJV)

💡 Foundational Reflection

(Begin here before ranking anything)

When people are hurting, what is my natural first response?🤔
What kind of need draws my attention even when I am tired?🤔
Which activities leave me deeply fulfilled, even if they cost me something?🤔
What fruit do others consistently notice in my life?🤔
Where do I sense God’s pleasure rather than pressure?🤔

🎁 Gift-Specific Reflection Questions

Mercy

Do I feel a strong pull toward those who are wounded, grieving, or overlooked?🤔
Am I able to sit with pain without rushing to fix it?🤔
Do people feel emotionally safe in my presence?🤔
Does compassion often move me before logic does?🤔

Exhortation (Encouragement)

Do my words tend to strengthen, steady, or realign others?🤔
Am I drawn to speak hope and truth into difficult situations?🤔
Do people tell me that something I said helped them persevere?🤔
Do I sense responsibility for how words shape hearts?🤔

Teaching

Do I enjoy bringing clarity to Scripture or spiritual truth?🤔
Am I patient in explaining things until others understand?🤔
Do I value depth, accuracy, and understanding?🤔
Do people seek me out to help them make sense of faith or the Bible?🤔

Serving (Helps)

Do I naturally notice practical needs that others miss?🤔
Am I fulfilled by preparing, organising, or supporting behind the scenes?🤔
Do I feel unsettled when work needs doing and no one steps in?🤔
Do I serve joyfully without needing recognition?🤔

Giving

Do I find joy in sharing resources, time, creativity, or energy?🤔
Am I generous even when it stretches me?🤔
Do I trust God easily with provision?🤔
Do I give quietly, without needing acknowledgment?🤔

Leadership

Do others naturally look to me for direction or steadiness?🤔
Am I comfortable taking responsibility for people and outcomes?🤔
Do I influence by example rather than authority?🤔
Do I feel burdened when vision lacks direction?🤔

Administration

Do I enjoy bringing order, structure and clarity?🤔
Am I good at organising details so others can flourish?🤔
Do I naturally think in systems, processes, or timelines?🤔
Does disorder or inefficiency distract me from the bigger picture?🤔

🌸 Ordering Your Gifts

After reflecting, consider this gently:

Which three gifts surfaced most strongly?🤔
Which one feels like the lens through which the others operate?🤔
Which gifts energise you and which require more effort?🤔
Which gifts have been affirmed repeatedly by others?🤔

Your highest gift is often not the one you admire most, but the one you cannot escape.

🙌🏻 A Closing Prayer

📖 "But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills." — 1 Corinthians 12:11 (NKJV)

Lord, open my eyes to see what You have already placed within me. Free me from comparison and striving. Teach me to steward what You have entrusted to me with humility, wisdom, and love. Show me the order of grace You have written into my life.

In Jesus' Name, Amen.

🌸 A Gentle Call to Action

If this reflection spoke to your heart, I invite you to take it deeper:

Journal your thoughts and prayers as you process these truths.
Explore my Devotional Collection for more writings that weave Scripture and creativity together.
Visit my This is My Story page, where I share the deeper journey behind my art, writing, and ministry — a testimony of God’s restorative love in the broken places.
Consider joining one of my Healing 💔heARTs💖 gatherings or paint parties, where we create, share, and heal together in God’s presence.