Spending Your Talents

Read It: Matthew 25:18 (NRSV)

18 But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 


Learn It:
This verse comes from the story of the Parable of the Talents.  1 Talent in Jesus' time was worth about 15 years worth of a regular workers wages.  So when the man in the parable hands his servants 5, 2, and 1 talents for them to care for, you can see a person handed this much money might be a bit hesitant to try to spend it because there is a good chance they could never pay the money back.  However, Jesus shows us that it is good for us to 'risk' using our talents (our gifts) for the master's will (God) than to hide it in a hole.  Jesus is telling all of us to use the gifts we have been given instead of hiding them or only using them for ourselves.  


Share It:
What kinds of talents (not the money kind in the story) do you have that you can use to glorify God?  What are ways that you can make your gifts 'double' as the servants did in the parable that Jesus tells?  How can using the gifts God gave you make them do more than just knowing you have them?  Do you know what gifts you have?  Do you think you have discovered all of them right now or do you think you might have more gifts from God waiting to be discovered?


Live It:
Spend this next week using the good gifts that God gave you to help others or to spread the word of God.  Gifts (talents) come in all different shapes and sizes and sometimes might not even seem like a gift.  Try to use what you're good at to help your neighbors out this week.  Maybe you'll discover a new talent in the process!

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How Can I Help?

Read It:  Philippians 2:3-5 (NRSV)

 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus..."

Learn It:

That is hard!  I remember playing sports when I was a teenager and I know I constantly regarded (thought of) myself as better than other people on my own team and better than players on other teams.  I wasn't so good, however, that I thought I was better than everyone else.  This passage from the letter to the Philippians teaches us some valuable lessons.  So often in sports, in school, in work we are taught to compete and be better than everyone else so that we can get ahead in the world.  I'm sure it was similar when Jesus was around too.  You have to be good at what you do to make a living, but I think the point trying to be made here is to realize that we cannot think of ourselves always above others or we will be selfish all the time.  The more we think about ourselves the less time we have to pay attention to others.  If we have the same mind as Christ Jesus then we would pay attention to the needs of those around us as he did and realize that the skills and talents we have may be used to better ourselves but they might be able to do a lot more to help others too.

Share It:

Where are the places and times when you feel most competitive or feel that you really do need to be better than others?  Do you notice at those times or in those situations that your benefit might or does come at the expense of others?  In what ways can you look at the interests of other people so that you aren't always focused on how things might benefit you?  How might humbling yourself by helping others might exalt you in the sight of God?  Share these thoughts and others that might come up as you talk with your family.

Live It:

As you go through this week take a look around you and try setting your goal or agenda aside and helping someone who might be struggling with theirs.  See how it makes you and the person you helped feel.  See how helping out people for the good of the community might be better than working for you own gains.  

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Please post comments with your experience with the share it or live it part of this weeks post.  Let others know if you and your family found this useful.