What Jesus’ Parable Reveals About Our Talents

I have a little confession to make.

I’ve improved in cross-country a lot over the years since I first started. Sometimes… well, sometimes I look at that and think that it all happened purely by my own effort. I’ve always told myself that I have no natural talent in this sport.

In many ways, it’s true. I’m not a born athlete by any means. I started out in the bottom.

Back in seventh grade, in my first cross-country season, I wanted to quit after the first day. I could barely jog the mile-and-a-half racecourse.

But I kept going, and eventually I broke through to a place where running felt as natural as breathing.

I had to work hard. It wasn’t easy to get there.

But at some point, it was like it all clicked. No, it wasn’t in a single moment. It didn’t happen overnight.

It was a process.

I’ve seen the beauty of what going through a process can work in your heart when you choose to stay faithful.

Recently I reread the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25, and I love this parable because it clearly represents the nature of our gifts—not just our material wealth, but the talents that we have been gifted as individuals.

In the parable, a “talent” refers to an ancient unit for measuring valuable metals. But if we see each “talent” as representing the modern definition (something in which we have a natural skill), it can resonate with us in a new way.

I love how the stories that Jesus told so long ago can still apply to our everyday lives.

Given to us by God

Just as the master in the parable gave his servants the talents to grow for him, God has given us talents to grow for Him also (See Matt. 25:14).

And this idea alone holds so much meaning. God has entrusted us with something valuable.

He’s given us our talents, and that’s where my thinking often falls flat.

Because all along, I’ve said that I’ve built up my running skills by my own effort. And yet, how could I look at what I’ve done and say that my Creator hasn’t me given any talent?

After running two half marathons, I’ve realized that my body was built for distance running. No, I still can’t sprint fast. No, I couldn’t instantly run for miles during my first season.

But after breaking through that period of inexperience, I’ve developed an ability to run long distances at paces that I once couldn’t imagine holding.

God gave me the seed by which it all started.

And He gave me the ability to make it grow.

If you struggle with low self-esteem the way I do, it may feel wrong to say that you’re talented. I’ve felt that way before—even while writing this post, it doesn’t feel quite right to say that I have a gift.

But when you declare that have a gift, you can also declare the glory of your Creator—the Giver of that gift.

Putting in the work

God gave us our talents, but in order to reap results, we have to get our hands a little dirty. We have to faithfully do the work of growing these skills.

The servants who received five and two talents came back with more talents after trading (see Matt. 25:16-17). But the servant who received one talent instead chose to bury it in a hole, not producing anything more (See Matt. 25:18).

And now I wonder… If we don’t choose to keep going when we want to quit, if we don’t choose to keep tending where we see no growth…

Isn’t that a lot like burying your talent in the hole?

Even when we don’t instantly come out as a “natural”, it seems that oftentimes, paired with a passion is a gift that’s just hidden.

Hidden under a layer of dirt until we choose to take a leap of faith and dig it out.

As I’m starting my fourth cross-country season (I can’t believe it’s been that long!), I’m so grateful that I didn’t quit after the first day. I’m so grateful that I kept going down that road, even though I didn’t know what lay ahead.

That road was full of hardships, but also blessings.

Not called to comparison

You know those moments when you see that person who’s a “natural”, and you can’t help but compare yourself?

Sometimes, I’ve looked at the results for the fastest girls in the nation, and then found myself asking, Why can’t I be one of them?

I’ve watched the fastest girl in a given race run, and then wondered, Why can’t I be her?

I’ve asked that so many times. Why can’t I be her?

Just why?

But I wasn’t meant to be her. I was meant to be someone else.

And a life of comparison isn’t the life that God called us to live.

In the parable, one of the “faithful” servants received five talents.

The other “faithful” servant received only two.

The one with two talents was given significantly less. The one with two talents made a significantly smaller impact.

And yet, he still played his part. He still had a place.

His master still saw him as good and faithful (See Matt. 25:23).

For reasons that we may never understand, some of us seem more naturally gifted than others. But perhaps we see this variety because our Creator wants to show us that we all have a purpose. Perhaps He wants to show us that He can—and will—use all those who give their hearts to Him.

Even those who aren’t the most talented.

Sometimes, those with less of a natural talent can reflect an even deeper strength. Isn’t it a lot harder to do something when you’re not the most gifted? Doesn’t it require a new level of faithfulness to keep going when you’re not a natural?

I’ve seen that there is beauty in going through the process of growth.

So when you aren’t given an already-blooming plant, there’s beauty in that.

Because instead, you have the opportunity to help it blossom from its seed.

No reason to hide

The servant who received only one talent took a different approach.

He still a had a talent—less than what the others had, but still a talent, and he could have made something from it.

Instead he hid it out of fear (Matt. 25:25).

“I was afraid.”

If we’re honest, how many times have we acted the same way? How often have we seen our talent as less than what others have received, and in fear, kept it hidden?

How many times have we kept ourselves hidden?

“I was afraid.”

I know what it’s like to obsess over what others think. To worry that you’ll seem unworthy, that you’ll be rejected, that you’ll fail…

“I was afraid.”

To think that you’d be better off hiding in the sidelines, away in a corner…

“I was afraid.”

This is the moment, my reader, where I want to take a step into your corner of the universe. Take a step there, wrap my arm around your shoulder, look you in the eyes and tell you that you don’t have to hide.

Fear can cast so much power over our hearts, I know. What others think can have so much influence on our lives, I know.

But what if you could be free from that?

And what if you could live out the gifts that you’ve been given?

Your Creator made you into a warrior, and you don’t have to hide that in the shadows of your corner.

Giving thanks for these talents

The parable’s main focus lies on how the servants received the talents to increase for their master. Their master gave them the talents with a purpose in mind, and God gave us our talents with that same intention.

To grow them for Him.

To use them for Him.

And to give them up to His purpose, because He gave them to us.

It’s our way of showing thanks.

I’ve also learned to be grateful for the gifts that I haven’t been given in the greatest abundance. The gifts that started out as only little seeds.

They taught me to see the beauty in a process. To be grateful for the process.

Going through that process shaped me into who I am.

And when the seeds finally grew up to reveal their first blossoms, I felt that much more grateful.

The blossoms—They whisper that you’ve been faithful.