Title: Transforming Talent to Skills
“For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.” – Matthew 25:14-15
I was the drummer at my local church as a teenager. I was naturally endowed with the talent to beat the drums and I considered myself a good drummer. I met a brother at church, who encouraged me to take drum lessons but I felt reluctant because I was regarded as best in the pool of drummers with my local church. Finally, I decided to take drum lessons. At my first lesson, the drum teacher asked me to sit behind the drum set and play some grooves; he then gave me some exercises to do which I struggled with. The lesson ended, I was given some exercises to take home as homework.
After some time of taking lesson with the drum teacher, I asked him to tell me what he wrote about me in his diary the first time I came for drum lessons. He brought out his black diary and he began to read, “The young man has no coordination, he could not do a simple drum exercise…” I was utterly shocked to my bones, knowing I was hailed as the best in my local church. This changed my whole perspective; I learnt one of the most important lessons of life, which is the difference between talent and skill. I wrote the following equations
Talent + practice = Skills
Skills + Trading = Profits
“…From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”
Until your talent is polished through practise or training, and traded, it cannot be profitable (1 Corinthians 12:7 ) In the parable of the talent, each servant was given a least a talent according to their ability, not according to equality. While we are not given the same number of talents, we are uniquely crafted for a specific purpose, making individuals extremely valuable.
[pullquote] Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God. – Unknown [/pullquote] John Maxwell says “practice sharpens your talent”. God expects us to do all things skillfully including praising Him (Psalms 33:3). Though He doesn’t give equally, He rewards all equally. The greatest accolade the master can give to His servant is “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.”- Matthew 25:23
Finally, my natural aptitude as a drummer could only get me so far. Michael Jordan is regarded as one of the best players during his playing days, perhaps one of the greatest of all times. But he wasn’t born with the skill to dunk the basketball; at a time he was cut from his high school basketball team but didn’t give up on developing his talent. With time he developed himself to be one of the great by immersing himself in practise and constant development. Despite all failures, we must persist until we reach their goals.God bless you
Prayer Points
- Father, reveal to me my hidden talents in Jesus name – Matthew 25: 18
- Father, let the fruit of perseverance be developed fully in me in Jesus name – Matthew 24:13
- Father Please find me faithful in all that I do in Jesus name
