Take My Talents

    Today I am finishing going over some of the basic areas in our life that we should concentrate on sacrificing to Jesus, as He sacrificed Himself for us.

Hebrews 13:16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. (ESV)


Talents

    When we are born into this earth, each of us is equipped with our own unique set of skills and talents. Whether we are Christian or not, we all have certain things that come naturally to us and that we excel in.  

    We each have our own giftings to display the different facets of the Father. When we work together as the body of Christ, we are designed to complete a bigger picture of what Jesus is like. The point is, we were given these certain gifts specifically to bring glory to our Heavenly Father.

    I think that we take these talents for granted as believers. We don't realize that they are gifts. We recognize we are good at something and take pride in our excellence. We ought to be taking pride in Jesus for giving us these talents and abilities! We should praise Him in all we do instead of praising ourselves or wishing we had someone else's gift. 

James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (NIV)

Romans 12:6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them (ESV)

1 Peter 4:10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace (ESV)

2 Corinthians 10:17 Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. (ESV)

    Because these talents come from the Lord and are meant to glorify Him, we should always be using them for His sake. Like in the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30), we are supposed to invest the things the Lord gives us, no matter how much or little that is. We should be using those things to further His Kingdom instead of keeping them to ourselves like the wicked servant does in the parable. 

    This is an area of your life you may not have thought to sacrifice to Him! But indeed, we owe it all to Him. Whatever you do, do it to bring Him glory and joy! Whether you dance, sing, cook, write, play sports-- do it all for Him as a sacrifice of worship and praise. 

1 Corinthians 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (ESV)

Colossians 3:14-17  And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (ESV)

Romans 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (ESV)

    This being my conclusion to the basic areas of our lives we should focus on sacrificing to Jesus, I would like to end from a passage I happen to come across in Francis Chan's book "Crazy Love" to tie the whole idea together.  

When we put it plainly like this-- as a direct choice between God and our stuff-- most of us hope we would choose God. But we need to realize that how we spend our time, what our money goes toward, and where we invest our energy is equivalent to choosing God or rejecting Him. 

Hear me clearly on this, because it is vital-- in fact, there is nothing more important or eternal: Are you willing to say to God that He can have whatever He wants? Do you believe that wholehearted commitment to Him is more important than any other thing or person in your life? Do you know that nothing you do in this life will ever matter, unless it is about loving God and loving the people He has made?