The art of maximizing your talents is an ancient art form. It goes way past the New Testament times down to the Old Testament era. To put it simply, this art form is old. In fact, as old as time is. Now, why do we have to emphasize this fact? Even if many people consider it ancient, the Bible still contains lessons which are relevant and are applicable at this time and age. Yep, even in this digital age. Today we will tackle a lesson from the New Testament. It’s one of my favorites culled from the book of Matthew.
The parable of the talents is not only about handling finances, it’s also about the natural ‘giftings’ you have and how to manage and maximize them to reach your full potential. I find Steve Pavlina.com helpful regarding personal development but this piece surpasses my expectations.
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In various religious texts, there can be found some interesting personal development gems. One from the Bible is “The Parable of the Talents.”
The Parable of the Talents is one of the stories Jesus told to teach a moral lesson. Although the word “talents” in the story refers literally to money, you can obviously extend the meaning to other areas. It’s interesting to read it using the common definition of “talents.”
Here’s the story:
The Parable of the Talents
Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
After a long time, the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. “Master,” he said, “you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.”
His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”
The man with the two talents also came. “Master,” he said, “you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.”
His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”
Then the man who had received the one talent came. “Master,” he said, “I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.”
His master replied, “You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
“Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
– Matthew 25:14-30 (NIV)
This simple story makes some interesting points that are applicable to the pursuit of personal development.
First, we’re all given a different starting position. Some of us are born into abundance (five talents). Others are born into scarcity (one talent). But what matters isn’t what we’re given — it’s what we do with it that matters. So Jesus acknowledges the unfairness of life, but he also suggests that our starting conditions are irrelevant. One person earns five talents, another earns only two, but both are congratulated equally because both achieved a 100% gain. (I’d sure like to know where those servants invested their money!)
This is also a good lesson in how to deal with other human beings. Deal with other people based on their starting positions, and evaluate yourself by your own starting position. If you happen to be one of those who receives five talents, don’t pat yourself on the back that you’re already above average. If you have abundant talents, you should expect even more from yourself. Similarly, there may be times in your life where you only have one talent and do the best you can with it, and even though your gains appear small from an external standard, by Jesus’ standard you’ve still made a notable accomplishment. I wrote about this previously in Raise Your Standards.
Another interesting aspect of the parable is that our talents are entrusted to us, like a master putting money into the care of his servants. We are stewards of our wealth, and I define wealth very loosely here, well beyond material possessions. For example, if I can write and speak fairly well, those are talents entrusted to me. I can bury them in the ground out of fear, or I can push out of my shell and strive to create increase for all.
One thing I wonder about the parable is this: What would have happened if one of the servants who invested the money realized a loss instead of a gain? There’s a clue to how Jesus would have answered this because of how the master addressed the third servant: ”You wicked, lazy servant!” Later the master refers to that servant as “worthless” and has him physically thrown out. That’s pretty harsh language considering the servant still gave the master all his money back. Is Jesus saying that inaction is wicked? Yes, I believe so. In other words, if you do nothing with your talents… if you hide them in the ground and hoard them, you are choosing to be wicked, lazy, and worthless. You are supposed to invest what you’ve been given. Don’t be lazy.
Another clue is how the first two servants are praised. The master praises them for being “faithful.” Very interesting. It would have been different if the master praised them for being shrewd or effective or profitable. But the praise is given for their faith, not for their results.
Given the language (and hopefully my points still work with non-English versions of this scripture), I conclude that if one of the servants had invested money and lost some or all of it, they would still have been praised for their faithfulness. However, given that Jesus doesn’t directly address this condition in the parable, he may also be suggesting that faith itself is the path to success — a common theme in his other teachings. So perhaps if you use your talents faithfully, you aren’t really going to lose.
Another notable quality of the parable is the lack of competition. The servants aren’t competing with each other for their master’s favor. It’s not a zero-sum game. The first two servants both contribute something of value to their master’s estate.
What’s the ultimate reward for the faithful servants? Although Jesus doesn’t explicitly say it, it seems obvious they don’t get to keep the money. The two successful servants aren’t even working for their own increase. It’s not their money. They’re working for the increase of their master, and they share in the increase to his estate. Their true reward is to share in their master’s happiness. So happiness is the reward, and happiness comes from serving others.
I know from experience that if I undertake some action to create increase only for myself, there’s very little energy to it, and it doesn’t usually increase my happiness. But if I focus on creating increase for others (such as by helping people grow), then I feel great joy in doing that, and it ultimately creates increase for me too.
But there’s more to it than that. Happiness is a quality that I inject into my work, not something I derive from it. When I work only for myself, I’m looking for happiness outside myself. Trying to achieve happiness that way doesn’t work. But when I work for others’ benefit and turn off WIIFM for a while (What’s In It For Me?), I tap into the deep wells of happiness that are already inside me. Instead of trying to achieve happiness, I happily achieve. Happiness flows outward from me and into the work I do, so I experience it as an outflow, not an inflow.
Happiness is something you exhale, not something you inhale. Are you one of those people who must say, “Yes, Senator, I had a supply of happiness in my gut, but I did not exhale?”
As Jesus implies in The Parable of the Talents, creating abundance requires you to move beyond fear. If you’re too fearful or suspicious or distrustful, you’re going to bury your talents. And this leads to “weeping and gnashing of teeth,” i.e. sorrow and depression.
You might think that fear and suspicion will keep you out of trouble, but really they’ll just cause you suffering and pain. You don’t need fear to avoid being a gullible idiot; for that you just need common sense. To live a life of abundance, you must ultimately move beyond fear and work to create abundance for others. Otherwise you’ll ultimately be cast out as worthless. Jesus doesn’t pull any punches here, youse bums.
Serve to create increase for others, and happiness is your reward. Bury your talents, and you get “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The choice is yours.
And that’s my parablog for the day.
