This is ActiveChristianity’s “Living the Gospel” podcast.
Join us as we explore different aspects of the gospel, according to the Bible,
and how we can put it into practice in daily life.
Hi everyone, welcome to Living the Gospel, on this Wednesday. I’m Milenko.
And I’m Kathy, and today we’re going to talk about what it means to be talented.
Just out of curiosity, Milenko, if you could have any talent, what would it be?
I’d really like to be able to fly.
Though that’s maybe more a superpower than a talent.
Yeah …
Actually, learning languages, I would love to be able to learn any language easily and quickly.
Yeah, that would be amazing.
That would be so cool, you could travel anywhere in the world
and just be able to talk and hang out with the locals and go anywhere without any problems.
And if you could fly it would be even better.
Oh it would be amazing. Yes.
So, you recently wrote an article for ActiveChristianity called
“Discovering and maximizing the unique talents God has given me.”
We’ve been thinking about parables recently at ActiveChristianity,
and how they apply to our everyday lives.
So, I thought about Jesus’ parable about the man who gave talents to his servants,
and how those servants used the talents they received,
and in this case the talents he gave were amounts of money.
When we talk about talents, we often mean things that we’re particularly good at,
something that we can do really well, but we can also think of talents in quite a different way.
Yeah, I’ve read the article and actually, I’ve never thought of talents in the way you describe them here.
So, It’s really interesting, it’s definitely a unique take.
I think a lot of people actually think that they are not particularly talented.
They can’t draw, or sing, or they’re not athletic, those kinds of things, right?
That’s what we think of when we think of talents, right?
Like we think of being able to do something, sort of.
But what would you say to those people?
Well I’d tell them that everyone is talented.
Because if you think about it like this, that talents can also be opportunities that God give us,
that He wants a return for, I think a whole new world opens up.
Right. So, another thing actually that came to mind for me when I first read the article was …
And I’ve read this parable before, so I’m familiar with the parable,
but I’ve never thought before about the fact that the man gave his servants
vastly different amounts to look after actually.
So, why do you think he did that?
Yes, that’s actually quite interesting.
Because when you see the reward, the reward was actually the same.
So, it wasn’t the amount they’d been given that was important for the master,
but what they had done with it.
And I think this has got to do with God knowing us,
exactly who we are, our circumstances, our personalities, what we can bear.
And He gives what’s right for us.
Yeah that’s interesting.
So, it’s actually a reassurance that He’s never going to give us anything that we can’t deal with and we can’t
we can’t bear, right?
Exactly.
And then I don’t need to look at someone else and think,
“Well, they’ve got this and this and I only have this,”
or, “Why do they only get that, but I have to deal with all of this,” right?
But actually, I thought then of that verse in 1 Corinthians 10:13
that says: “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful,
who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able,
but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”
Right.
So, we’re not tempted beyond what we can bear.
It’s exactly right for us.
And He knows us so well, that He knows exactly what to give us, and how much, and what we can deal with.
So, how does that tie in with the talents?
Maybe we can just listen to the article then.
Yeah, let's go.
Discovering and maximizing the unique talents God has given me
Written by Milenko van der Staal
In the parable of the talents in Matthew 25,
Jesus tells about a master who gave each of his servant a different number of talents (a sum of money)
to look after.
The intention was that they should gain a profit for the master with what had been entrusted them.
The talents in the parable are generally said to be our abilities and strong points,
like when we say that somebody is very talented.
But the talents also represent the circumstances God has given me in life,
opportunities where I can carry out God’s will.
Now I must see myself and my life through God’s eyes: Why did He give me this body?
This personality?
These abilities?
This family?
These circumstances?
Can I see that they are talents that have been entrusted to me?
Trials and hardships, or good times and prosperity
are all opportunities that God has entrusted to me personally!
In fact, in God’s eyes, many challenges mean I have been given many talents;
many trials mean I am very talented!
And I am the only one who can carry out these tasks, because my set of circumstances is completely unique
according to God’s purpose.
God trusts me to use these possibilities to come to development and growth and gain eternal content,
and He has given me the tools to do so.
If I am willing, God gives me His Word to teach me what to do,
and the Holy Spirit to give me the strength to carry it out.
Jesus has gone ahead as a forerunner to show me the way.
In each situation, with each talent I have been given, God’s name can be glorified,
God’s will can be done, and I can gain an “eternal weight of glory.”
In the parable, the servants had to give account for the talents entrusted to them.
Two of them had managed them wisely, so they had gained a profit.
This can be compared to using my circumstances to gain eternal riches.
God’s investment in me is that He has given me a body, and circumstances where I can do His will.
The profit He expects in return is that sin is eradicated piece by piece in my life,
and that it is replaced with a new creation: virtues, the fruit of the Spirit eternal life and above all,
that through all these things, God is glorified by my body and my situations.
The master praised the first two servants, saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant;
you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.
Enter into the joy of your lord.”
However, the third servant, who had received one talent,
had hidden it in the ground and had nothing to show for what had been given in his care.
The master was very displeased with him, calling him wicked and lazy, and saying,
“… take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.
For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have,
even what he has will be taken away.
And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness.
There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
This can seem harsh and unfair.
After all, he had been given the least talents of all three servants,
and he gave back what he had received, didn’t he?
But the point was that he hadn’t used the talent he had been given; he was lazy and not willing to do any work.
Not only had he not made a profit,
but the talent was probably damaged and rotten from being buried in the ground.
The master’s judgment was absolutely just and fair.
Talents can vary.
Say I am very good at something.
Do I use those abilities to bless others, to do the good, to help and lead the way in the good?
Or do I “bury” them by using them on myself, for my own gain?
Say I am experiencing trials like sickness, financial hardship or being misunderstood and backbitten.
Do I use them to overcome the grumbling, doubt, discouragement and so on.
That almost always arises from the sin in my flesh?
Do I recognize the opportunity as a unique talent,
which I can “manage” to gain fruit of the Spirit like thankfulness, faith, joy and so on,
or do I “bury” it by giving in to sin and not gaining anything of eternal worth in the trial?
I am in the same position as the unprofitable servant
if I have gained nothing from the situations God has given me, no matter what those circumstances are.
In fact, doing “nothing” is the same as allowing my natural tendency to sin to fester and grow,
so the end is worse than the start.
But now I can do something with the opportunities and grace God has given me.
The result of my circumstances, great or small, long or short, heavy or light,
should always be that something of eternal value has been created:
where there was impatience, there is now patience; where there was ingratitude, there is now thankfulness;
where I had trouble bearing the others, there is now love; where I was weak, I have become strong.
Then I will hear those wonderful words from the mouth of my Master, whom I have served all my life:
“Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things,
I will make you ruler over many things.
Enter into the joy of your lord.”
You can read the whole parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30.
So, after listening to that I think it’s pretty clear that we all have talents when we think of it this way.
Every one of us.
And it’s cool how you talk about maximizing those talents.
So, to use them to the absolute best advantage I can!
What a great attitude to take concerning the various things that come my way in life.
They’re not heavy and burdensome, but I can get so much out of them when I take them the right way.
There’s so much potential!
It makes life exciting.
Then you can really see that this has eternal value for me.
And what can I do?
How can I do the best out of it?
It’s a completely different way to look at those things, right?
It really is, isn’t it?
Well, that’s it for this episode of “Living the Gospel.”
Thanks for joining us again today and I hope that you were as encouraged by this as I have been.
Remember you can visit us at ActiveChristianity.org for more encouraging articles, and we’ll see you next week.
Yep, bye!