Gifts & Talents

There is a story in Matthew 25 starting at the 15th verse that tells how the Lord gave three men talents based upon their abilities. One He gave five, the other two and the last one.  The first two doubled their talents, but the man given the one talent buried his in the earth.  When the Lord returned, He praised the ones who went out and increased their talents, but He verbally reprimanded the one who did nothing with what God had given him.  The Lord called him "wicked and slothful!"

This passage of scripture can be applied to all of our lives.  God has equipped each of us with gifts or talents to be used for His glory and to be used to bless others.  Just as in the example above, I believe that it grieves the Lord when we sit on the gifts and talents that He has given us.  You don't have to be on a public platform to have your gifts and talents recognized and God can use each and every one of us in many different ways.

For example, this weekend I had the opportunity to open my home to some dear friends and together we all learned how to calculate our net worth and how to write a budget for the betterment of our households.  Someone with the gift/talent of financial management "volunteered" her time to come out and meet with us individually.  Her gift/talent has served to increase the knowledge of a group of women who now can go out and educate others on how to manage their finances more wisely.  I'm sure the Lord smiled down on her for that. 

What is your gift or talent?  Are you not allowing God to get the glory through you?  Could you be reaching out and helping someone, but you are not?  Could you be doing more with what God has blessed you with?

Proverbs 18:16...A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.