Knowing and Understanding Your Talents

Have you ever read The Parable of Talents in Matthew 25:14-30?

Back in the old days, talents were a form of money, like we have dollars, quarters, nickels, and dimes. Their money was called talents. However, talents, in today's world, is viewed as what you can do. We all have talents— Godgiven talents. For example, some people can pop wheelies on a bicycle, play basketball, throw a football, head a ball during a soccer game, hit a home-run, or lift 300 pounds at least 10 times. To step aside from the athletically skilled talents, there are people who can perfectly draw the area you're sitting in, tell you everything about a book, perform cartwheels, sing, dance, rap, etc. Talents are something you can do, and some are better at doing it better than others. It is tough when some people believe they do not have any talents or believe their talent is worthless. Believing in that is not true because every talent is very useful and can be more of use as the person, and the talent, grow and develop. Have you ever seen any of the X-Men movies or, at least, watched the cartoons or read the comic books? If not, X-Men is about a bunch of mutants, a subgroup of humans with enhanced supernatural abilities, teaming up to fight for peace and equality among humans and mutants. Rather they use it for good or bad, mutants have special useful talents.

In the scripture, God gives each person a different amount of talents. The first person received five talents. The second person received two talents, and the third person received one talent. We love to compare and contrast people's talents. Who is better: Steph Curry or LeBron James, Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, Venus or Serena Williams, Beyonce or Adele, Barry Bonds or Hank Aaron, The Rock or Stone Cold Steve Austin, Batman or Superman? Everyone can shoot a basketball, but Steph Curry can shoot better. Tom Brady has five championship rings, but Peyton Manning has two rings. God's purpose for different talents is not to encourage us to boast and compete against others but to compete against ourselves in order for us to grow and develop our talents. Hopefully, we would decide to use our talents in a way that would please Him. Like the mutants, we have the choice to use our talents to either save humanity or destroy it.

Growing and Developing Your Talents

If you don't use it, you will lose it. Our talents are unique, as they work with our muscle and brain memory (your brain thinks what actions to perform; muscles think how to perform the action). Think about how you learned how to ride a bicycle. Your brain reminded you to pedal, but your leg muscles put in the effort to pedal. This concept is similar to solving math problems, spelling words, shooting a basketball, trapping a soccer ball, writing words, or speaking other languages. Have you ever watched "Matilda?" Do you remember the scene when Matilda was learning how to use telekinesis? She began with just lifting a spoon or a box of cereal. After several hours of practicing, Matilda became capable of lifting people. In the Matthew scripture, everyone, except one, used their God-given talent and developed it to become even better. The first person's five talents became 10 talents. The second person's two talents became four talents, but the person with one talent hid his talent and never use it. He wasted what God gave him. God was disappointed to see that His servant did not use, grow, or develop his talents.

Being Hardworking

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human master." – Colossians 3:23

What does it mean to work hard? How does a person become a hard worker? What does it all look like?

With your talents, God wants you to grow, develop, use, and work hard. At whatever ability or level you are able to perform, God desires for you to work hard using your talents. Working hard allows us to grow and develop at a more efficient rate. God wants us to do our best. Even if you are losing a race and there is no chance at finishing in the top three, you should continue to give your all. God wants us to cheerfully do whatever we are doing. This includes washing the dishes (which can be a boring job,) cleaning houses, going to practice, studying, driving, exercising, cooking, preaching, teaching, dancing, singing, praying, or whatever. Just do your best. We are working for God, not anyone else. I know it is tough to keep that kind of mentality and attitude when your parents, coaches, bosses, or teacher may not be pleased with your work, especially if you did not do a good job. If it comes to a time when you have given it your all and working at 100% but still fail, that's okay because God is pleased with all of your hard work.

I love sports. I love watching ESPN. "First Take" is one of my favorite shows. One day, Tim Tebow was a guest on the show to discuss his transition from football star to a potential baseball star. Throughout Tebow's football career, many critics have questioned Tebow's ability to play as a quarterback and believed he should play another position. Now, the same critics are questioning Tebow's ability to play baseball. During Tebow's conversation with Stephen A. Smith, he said this:

"The ultimate goal isn’t to succeed or fail. The ultimate goal is to give it everything you have for something on your heart and a dream and pursuing that. And if you get to live out your dream every single day, then the result doesn’t matter. I can look back 20, 30 years from now and be able to look at this time and say, “You know what? I gave everything I had to football. I gave everything I had to baseball. And I was able to live out some dreams.” In my opinion, that’s pretty awesome." – Tim Tebow

In order words, do not be ashamed of your talents. Learn how to enhance your talents. Use your talents. Do it with all your heart.