To Each Accord to His Several Ability

In Matthew 25:14-30 Jesus gives the parable of the talents. In verse 15 it says that he gave to each "According to his several ability"  To me, this scripture means that they were given as much as they could handle and put to use.  It also tells me that each person is an individual and that the Lord knows what he is doing when he gives us assignments or callings and gives is to us according to our abilities.  Since they also use the words talents for what the servants were given in the parable, this made me think of different talents I have been blessed with.

I have been given a talent with music.  I love to play the piano and sing.  If I am going to be a good and faithful servant to my Lord, I will use this gift and talent to bless the lives of people around me.  I can do this by singing or playing in church or by sharing my talents with others.

One thing that we talked about this parable was the fact that the servant who only got one talent was afraid to displease his Master, so he hid it in the ground.  This was the wrong decision because it was made out of fear rather than looking at what his Lord would have him do.  My teacher told the class that if we base decisions out of fear, we will not be making the correct decision.  Fear causes us to shrink and not act.  We need to act in the name of the Lord and not react out of fear of Him.  This reminded me of another scripture in John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."  When we are doing the Lord's work he will give us peace not fear.  We can all move forward in faith and share with people our talents.