Do You Want to Be Successful?Sýnishorn

Develop your talent

One parable that often becomes a source of inspiration for work ethic and a measure of success for Christians is the parable of the talents. The word 'talent' means a unit of weight measurement, especially for gold and silver. In New Testament times, a talent was the largest unit of money measurement. According to historians, one talent was estimated to be equivalent to the wages of an ordinary worker for 20 years in those days. Based on this historical information, we can conclude that a talent was a very large sum of money at that time.

Then, in the 15th century, the British began to use the word "talent" to define a thinking ability or other talent given to a person by God from birth to development. The use of the word "talents" in English, which we still use today, is strongly influenced by the parable of the talents in Matthew 25.

Based on the original context of the word talent, we can see that the talent given by the master is a trust to develop his wealth and not a reward. We can also see that the trust given to each servant is different. Examples of different abilities/talents are gifts, opportunities for work and endeavor, the character developed in the family, and the interests and hobbies that God gave to us from birth.

We need to learn that God wants us to develop our talents so that they become a blessing to other people. (Just like the good example given by the first and second servants). The standard of success here is very different from the world's benchmarks. The world places more emphasis on position, rank, and wealth. God’s standard is the attitude of our hearts in seeking that belief. We must not imitate the third servant who hoards the talents that his master has entrusted to him in the ground. We often do this when we compare our gifts with others and then feel lacking or feel nothing and become lazy in developing God's given talents.

Let us manage what God has entrusted to us as best we can while we still have time and opportunity.

Reflection:

1. Have we become good servants in carrying out our duties to develop the talents entrusted to us in our lives?

2. Let's reflect on times when we felt we weren't as talented as others and became lazy. What things can we do to solve it?