“How you use what you have matters” is the last part of the series, “Who You Choose To Be Matters.”
“Who you choose to BE” guides what you say, how you say it, and do. It also dictates “how you use your time.”
In the following lines, we will find out how “who you choose to BE” also defines “how you use everything you have,” and why that matters.
Let me begin by saying that besides time, as a gift from God, you still have so much with you.
Let’s take a moment to look at what we indeed have. A Scripture that can help us with that is Matthew 25: 14-30. People refer to this piece of Scripture as “the Parable of the Talents.”
In this text, we read a story about someone who has lots of property and servants. He’s about to go on a journey.
But, before leaving, he chooses to entrust three of his servants with his property. He does not tell them when he will be back.
Nor does he tell them what to do with what he entrusts them with before his departure for the journey. There are four important lessons we can learn from the Biblical story.
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You Are A Servant
The entire universe is God’s. like in the story, life’s all about God, the owner of everything. God placed Adam and Eve, and their descendants (humankind), into the world God had created for us.
Read Genesis 1 and 2.
The statement about the Master, in Matthew 25, leaving on a journey echoes the ascension of Jesus Christ.
According to Scripture (Acts 1: 10-11), Jesus ascended into heaven. The disciples were there when that happened. And, as they were looking Jesus go up two men stood by them. They then tell them that Jesus would come in the same way as they had seen him go into heaven.
Your life is a both a gift and a calling to serve God and others.
What You Have Is Unique
What God entrusted with is unique. The uniqueness is because God has given you to be who you are today for a particular reason. Each of the three servants received a different number of talents.
One received five talents. Another two. The third servant received one.
The number of talents each one received did not have to do with importance. It was according to each servant’s ability.
The word “ability” in this verse stands for a few things. First, it stands to what one is capable of doing.
Second, it shows the energy one has. And, when you think of energy, what comes to mind also is the willingness to work towards a goal.
The term “talent” also has a variety of meanings. It stands for silver or gold. It also stands for worth and value.
What the Master gave to the servants are value and worth. In other words, you and I have value and worth that we’ve received from the Master. But, keep in mind that whatever value or worth you have isn’t for you. It’s God’s property.
Next, the word “talent” means balance or weight. Here’s the way I read the idea behind the Master giving talents to the servants. Entrusting them with talents is to help others find value and worth in life.
It’s the role of the Master’s servants to help people around then find and discover their worth in life.
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What You Have Isn’t Yours
What you have belongs to the owner of everything, Jesus Christ, our Master. Let’s reflect a little bit on who we are. None of us chose to be born as we were born.
Did we?
You and I happened to be born a male or female. Our biological parents did not have control over that. Science has been trying to see if people can control it. But, the entire process is beyond us.
What I’m getting at is that “who you are” is God’s. Paul reminded the Corinthians saying, “Did you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and, that you did not belong to yourself, but to God?” (1 Corinthians 6: 19).
So, what you have and who you are is God’s property, with which God entrusted you.
Be a Faithful Servant
First, choose to replicate
Replication of your talents is the only way you grow as a person and as a Christian. Helping others find and discover their worth is the way how one puts to good use their talents.
It is to do what the Master expects you to do. And, this is replication. Every time you do so, you make your Master happy.
Paul refers to it as the way to glorify God in our bodies (mind, soul and spirit). Read 1 Corinthians 6: 20.
Second, don’t bury your talent or worth
The servant with one talent decides to bury his talent. That did not make his Master happy.
But, the other two with two and five talents made a good choice. Instead of burying their talents, they invested them.
In other words, they replicated what they had. And, as a result, upon the Master’s return, they received more. Fear of using your talent does not help you grow.
You grow by using what you have.
And, the best way to use what you have is by investing in others. It’s by helping others they in turn discover their worth too. By doing so, they also become able to make their lives valuable wherever they are. Thus, and in a lot of ways, using your talents helps others grow too.
Conclusion
You don’t belong to yourself. We belong to each other and more importantly to God. We are thus to use what we have in a way that’s pleasing to God, our Master.
