Are You Using Your Talents?

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. Matthew 25:14-15

If you have not read this parable of the Talents, you can find it in Matthew 25:14-29. It is a parable of a merchant who gave his servants money to double for him. In banking terms he made an investment in his servants and expected to double his investment in return. To one he gave five talents, to the other two and to the last one he gave one, according to the abilities that he knew they had to make profit of his investment and went on his trip. When this merchant returned to settle accounts with his servants, the one he gave five to had doubled his investment. Likewise the servant whom he gave two talents to, doubled his investment, but the servant to whom he only gave one talent, hid in the ground and did nothing with it.

God gives each and every one of us a talent. It may not be an obvious talent like some but nonetheless it is a talent. A talent is something that you can do and do very well; a specialty so to speak that you may have. For example, some people have the talent of hosting. People can go to their house and they will make them feel as if they are in there own home or at a luxurious resort. That is a talent not everyone has. Some people have the talent of calming situations so they don’t escalate into something ugly. These are not very obvious talents but they are effective and necessary talents nonetheless. If they weren’t necessary why would God give them? God gives us these talents to use for His glory. If we host, we host for Him, if we pacify a situation, we pacify for Him. Whatever your talent is, you are to use it, practice getting better at it, and multiply it. How do you multiply it? By using your talent to bless others. I know a newlywed couple who have several talents and they use them all to glorify our Father, hence I have been witness to the multiplication of those talents. Not only do they sing, they host, they direct, they preach, and they lead and there are probably more talents I have seen yet in them. The point is that they are multiplying that investment that God made in them by blessing others. If you hear these two sing together or individually you will be truly blessed.

The first thing you need to do is discover your talent. Once you discover your talent, you have to develop it or put it into practice. It can be an obvious talent such as singing, preaching, or teaching, or it can be a talent that is not seen in crowds or the general public. A talent is a talent, however obvious or unobvious it may be. Is that a word?? You have to use it. As you develop your talent and become good at it, you multiply it. You cannot hide your talent and do nothing with it. God gave it to you for a reason. He gave it to you to bless others and to bless you and in so doing you are honoring the One who gave you the talent. If you allow fear and other elements to prevent you from using your talent you can lose it. Now let me be clear on what I mean about losing it – you will lose the desire, you will lose the ability to do it well, it is like a flower that receives no sunlight or water and dies. It is like a muscle that is not exercised and grows weak to the point where it is useless. A talent in monetary terms is equivalent to 10,000 shekels. In American money that would be about $1500. Jesus used the monetary example so that the people would understand but He was actually talking about those deposits that God makes in each and every one of us.

If you read the verses where he came to the last servant who he gave one talent to, you will see that the servant did nothing with his talent. He knew he had it, but he didn’t develop it and he didn’t multiply it because he was afraid. He was considered wicked and lazy by his master. Fear, insecurity, low self esteem, complexes and other elements can prevent you from discovering and developing your talent. A low self esteem will make you think that there is no way that you could have a talent but you do. Fear will say, you can’t do it, what if you fail? Insecurity will say you’re not that good, so and so can do it better, let them do it. These are all obstacles the enemy puts in your path to keep you from your full potential. You have to step over those giants and remind yourself, if God gave it to you it’s because He knew that you had the ability to do it. You see, verse 15 says “to each according to his own ability.” Not according to so and so’s ability but according to your own ability God gave you a talent or 5 talents or 10 talents or more! It is up to you to discover them, develop them, and multiply them!

I want to hear the Lord say “well done, my good and faithful servant”; how about you? Verse 29 says: ‘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.” If you don’t use your talents they will be taken away. Let us use those gifts God has given us to further His kingdom so that we can hear the Lord say “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”
God bless!