In last week’s post, I began sharing my perspective on the Parable of the Talents. Though this story is frequently discussed among Christians, it’s not necessarily easy to apply to our lives. Investing our talents in a way that honors God can be difficult, yet He expects it. After all, He’s the one who provided our talents! (This is what I focused on in Part 1, which you can read here if you missed it.) In this post, I’ll share a couple more lessons I’m learning from this parable.
Recap of the Parable
Since I included the entire Parable of the Talents in Part 1, I’ll simply link the parable here and provide a recap before sharing the specific lessons I’m learning from it.
In short, three servants received talents from their master before he left on a long journey. While he was gone, the first two servants earned several talents, but the third servant hid his talent in the ground. When their master returned, he praised the first two servants and scorned the third servant. This statement he made is particularly poignant: “‘For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away’” (Matthew 25:29 ESV). What does this statement—and the rest of the parable—teach us about using our talents for God’s glory?
Lesson #2: Don’t Compare Your Talents to Others’ Talents
The master didn’t entrust the same number of talents to each servant. He gave five talents to the first servant, two talents to the second servant, and one talent to the third servant—based on each servant’s competence (v. 15). While their master was away, the first servant made five talents, and the second servant made two talents (vv. 16-17). Yet upon their master’s return, he told them exactly the same thing: “‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master’” (vv. 21, 23). I’m confident the master would’ve said the exact same thing to the third servant if he’d done something useful with his talent.
The second lesson I’m learning from this parable is that I shouldn’t compare my talents to others’ talents. God knows which talents and how many talents are best for each of His children. The quantity of our talents, the nature of our talents, and the impact of our talents don’t matter as much as our willingness to invest them in God’s kingdom. He decides the quantity, nature, and impact of our talents, so we need to keep our focus on honoring Him with them and through them.
Lesson #3: Have Faith in Your Master’s Return
Interestingly, the master didn’t tell his servants when he’d return from his journey; he simply gave them the talents and left (vv. 14-15). Obviously, the first and second servants had faith that their master would return because they invested their talents, hoping to make more talents. (And they did!)
The third lesson I’m learning from this parable is that I need to have faith in my master’s return. When we invest our talents in God’s kingdom, we can’t control the outcome—and that’s okay. We need to invest our talents anyway. When we meet God face-to-face one day, will He call us good and faithful servants? Or wicked and slothful servants? Choosing to invest—or not invest—the talents He’s entrusted to us reveals if we truly believe He’ll return. When He does, I want to be considered good and faithful.
