Multiplying Our Talents

I'm reflecting on the parable of the talents in Matthew 25: 14-30. The Hebrew talent is a unit of weight. 1 talent would equal 34.2 kilos or 75.4 pounds. It referred mostly to the weight of silver and gold and other precious stones. In essence if you were given a talent of gold, that would mean much already. Although incidentally talents for us would mean our abilities that God has given, which is actually worth more than gold. So, each of us were given different weights of abilities or various unique key strengths that is expected to be multiplied.

How do we multiply the talents God has given us? We are all created out of his love and endowed with gifts to help build God's kingdom. Have we realized this set of special gifts, which is our key strength? How can we be more productive with the limited amount of time given to us live on this earth? Here are some suggested steps:

1. Discover the Uniqueness of Your Talent.

We are all created unique. The combination of our skills, virtues, intellect, feelings, and experience makes us distinct from the rest. Each of us have that quality that contributes distinctively from others. A way to do this is to simply list them down or ask others what is positively unique in you. Often we are not aware of this and tend to put ourselves down. The discovery of our own strength or self-awareness is an important step to improve ourselves.

2. Spend more time, money, and effort in harnessing your talent 

Where does our money go? The more we invest in our talents, the more we actually increase our value. Attending workshops or even doing further study to 'professionalize' our talent will help multiply our God-given abilities. Buying books and finding the right mentor will accelerate our learning curve.

3. Build a team of loyal, differently talented, and dedicated people 

We all have weaknesses that others can fill. We are created this way, so we may work as a community and live harmoniously. Building a team will increase our productivity a hundred fold. Have the eye for talent, avoid redundancy, and let your people shine by giving them work that matches their skill set.

4. Delegate work that do not match your strengths which may take up your time 

Often we find ourselves doing urgent things that we can probably delegate or most probably others will be better at doing. Let us spend our time and effort on our strengths and see the excellent results.

5. Go from strength to strength.

"Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities." Mt 25:21When engaging in new and large responsibilities, there is an initial difficulty that will challenge the limits of our talents. Press on, persevere, and be consistent. Soon enough we will gain "talent muscles" that will lead us from strength to strength.

We do not easily give up out of fear and "bury our talents." Even if we fall at times, we have to resurrect and pursue our goals.  At the end of our lives we wish to offer God our talents and long to hear Him say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."

Why People Like Jeremy Lin

Everybody (well, the men) is talking about this NBA phenom from Harvard, Jeremy Lin.  This guy comes out of the bench of the New York Knicks and suddenly does wonders for the team. In one of his games, he scored 38 points against the Lakers bagging them the win. Not only that, he is excellent in giving assists, making his other team mates even better.  What I like about him is that he is a religious person. In one interview, He openly expressed his faith and said, "...this whole journey is a blessing from God."

Most people today will attribute their success solely on their hardwork, intelligence, and talent.  In this modern age, God is being put out of the picture.  In 2010, the Pope formed the Pontifical Council on New Evangelization because of the problem of secularization in the first world.  He mentions, "The process of secularization has produced a serious crisis of the sense of the Christian faith and role of the Church", and the new pontifical council would "promote a renewed evangelization" in countries where the Church has long existed "but which are living a progressive secularization of society and a sort of 'eclipse of the sense of God'."


It's good to know that famous people like Jeremy Lin, is bringing God back into the picture.  Truly, a new evangelization is needed.  Let us then take every opportunity to proclaim the greatness of the Lord (Luke 1:46) by being Christ's witnesses in this fast-paced and success-driven modern society.

Dare To Trust

To trust is not as simple as it sounds. Trusting is an act of faith.  It involves risk.  But in exchange of the risk we take in trusting others, there is a heightened sense of empowerment for the entrusted.  Jesus exemplified this when he said, "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father (John 14:12)."


The same is said in one of General Patton's quotations:

 Once in Sicily, I told a general who was somewhat reluctant to attack that i had perfect confidence in him. To show it, I went home.
Never tell people what to do, and they will surprise you with their ingenuity. (General George S. Patton)


Imagine. God entrusts us fully to continue the work He started. He even went home to His Father.  Whether at home or at work, how do we build trust with the people God gave us under our leadership?


T - Train with them
To give someone such a big responsibility without preparation or adequate training is like letting your friend pilot an airplane without going to flying school. It's bound to crash. With the training comes the discipline and expectation. With this you are positioning them to be trustworthy.


R - Respect their gifts
Each of us are endowed with talents.  By acknowledging a person's strength and matching it to the right task will help build up confidence.  By respecting their God-given gifts, they will do better than expected.

U - Understand their situation
Genuine empathy will help them realize that you care.  As John Maxwell says, "They don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care."  To doubt the validity of their reasons for being absent or failing to deliver is an indicator of a weak foundation of mutual trust.

S - Space to grow
Give them room to initiate and innovate. If you are there to meddle at every step of the way, they won't feel that they have achieved something.  Without creative space, there is no true empowerment.  A smaller tree cannot grow under the shade of a bigger tree.  Trees are planted at a distance from each other so they can have sufficient sunlight and water.


T - Time for bonding
The more time you spend with the people you trust or hope to trust, the deeper will be the foundations of trust.  Time is also about attention.  It makes the other person feel important and listened to. Trust is built over time. Recall a person you trust.  Your cherished memory of this person will most likely be your times of bonding.


More than 2,000 years after Christ's death, through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, Christianity continues to grow because the He entrusted to us His mission to "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations... (Matthew 28:19)."  He also said, "As the Father sent me so I send you (John 20:21)."


Jesus trusted His apostles like no other.  Although some of them betrayed Him, His love for them remained unchanged. Let us dare to trust like Jesus trusts.

Passion for God

I just came from the Youth for Christ Conference in Cagayan de Oro. What's so amazing about the youth is their passion for worship. There I was worshipping with 6,000 other yfcs in awe of God's greatness.

What are the things that we do with passion? Often our passion is connected with God's unique gift to us. Ever wonder why we are fascinated about certain things while others are less enthusiastic about them? We are 'wired' differently from one another, intended for a purpose. We are created in such a way that we will need each other to achieve a great mission. We need to acknowledge the strengths of others as well as our own. We need not even try to mimic the style of others since God designed us to be special.

Spend a significant amount of time, money, and energy on your God given passions. This is how excellent people are made. They focus on their zone of strength and continue to beat their own record.

Make sure your passion contributes to God's mission. If you have to devote to something, make it worth your time by helping God's kingdom spread on earth. Many throw away precious hours to something very temporary, self-indulging or less meaningful. Identify your passion as being part of a great dream.

See Your passion as a form of worship to God. Worship is something that we offer to God because He is worthy, He is holy. Singing to God with songs of praise is one way of worshipping Him. Our passion, whether it is dancing, cooking, or business, when offered to God can be a form of worship.

Above all, let our passion for God drive our lives. This holy week, may we remember our Lord Jesus, ever passionate to save us from our sins. May we respond to Him with the fire of love in our hearts.

God is Passionate About Us

I had dinner with a good friend, John. What one would notice about him is his passion for his craft, photography. I could feel his love for it. He can endlessly tell you about his discoveries and learnings about the art. During a wedding photo shoot, I felt that he was very excited of every pose, every possibility of a perfect shot. He has invested much in it; his resources, time, sweat, and energy.  He has attained much success in the field of photography, yet he tells me that he is still barely scratching the surface. "There is more to learn," he says.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God;

it is not from works, so no one may boast. For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them (Ephesians 2: 8-10).

I've realized that Christ is passionate about us. We are His masterpiece, His handiwork. He is interested about us and is continually excited to hear how we are doing in our lives.  He awaits upon us in prayer. Jesus wants to speak to us, endlessly and passionately, if we listen.

We are His craft, His favorite creation. All through our lives, He wants to mold us to perfection. We respond through our free will, inviting Him to shape us to His intended design, even if painful at times.

Many of us might have known our Lord through school, talks, or prayer meetings. Yet, we are barely scratching the surface of what we know about God. He is a divine mystery. There's still much much more to learn about our great God.

May we be passionate about God as much as He is passionate about us.

Be Confident in the Lord

"Who is this but Joseph's son?" Luke 4:22

Even Jesus was not spared with criticisms and doubt.  We fear what other people will say about us and what we do.  But often times, the greatest critic and doubter of all is ourselves.

I remember when Mike and I wrote the song God is Enough back in 2003. I was very hesitant to teach it, in fear of the idea that it just came from us. That time, the excellent music of Darrel Evans and Hillsong were the standard Christian songs we used for worship. But one day, Mike, filled with the Holy Spirit, just taught it to a group of youth missionaries and the rest was history. God used the song powerfully in spite of who we are.

When in doubt, let us gain confidence in knowing that God wants to use our talents, knowledge, and even our life's stories for His purpose.  It doesn't matter what people say. What matters is what God has to say.  Be confident in the Lord.

Use Your Talents to Build God's Kingdom

Yesterday we went to Salzburg, the city where Amadeus Wolfgang Mozart was born and raised. It's also the city setting of the movie, Sound of Music. But I'm inclined to be more interested in Mozart and how this genius came to be. I was able to visit the house of his birth and the house where he grew up.

Mozart composed over 600 works. He composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty. After Mozart's death, his older sister "Nannerl" had this to say about her brother when Wolfgang was three years old:

He often spent much time at the clavier, picking out thirds, which he was always striking, and his pleasure showed that it sounded good. In the fourth year of his age his father, for a game as it were, began to teach him a few minuets and pieces at the clavier. He could play it faultlessly and with the greatest delicacy, and keeping exactly in time. At the age of five he was already composing little pieces, which he played to his father who wrote them down (wikipedia).

Mozart was a prodigy. Yet his talent could have only come from one greater than him...God. What talents do we have? What are we doing to nurture God's gifts of talents? We recall the parable of the talents. The others did well in multiplying the talents God entrusted to them, while the one who hid it had this to say:

'Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter; so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back (Matthew 25:18).'

This is what the talent giver had to say at the end of his reply:

Now Then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten. For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away (Matthew 25:28-29)

These are some of my realizations: We have to acknowledge God's gifts through our interests. God planted in us a feeling of bias towards particular interests. Not everyone is interested in the same things. Then, we cultivate and grow our interests so it may bless others and help in building God's kingdom on earth. Many are blessed with amazing talents but use it only to enrich themselves without thought for others. Even worse, some use it out of greed, corruption, and exploitation. If we hide our talents, (in the context that it is not used for the good of God's kingdom) we are preventing God's blessings upon us. Hiding our talents from God's intended purpose will cause us to live a life that is deprived of His goodness. Think of those who use their intellect and administrative talents to make themselves rich. At first their conscience will haunt them. Then they are able to train and tame their consciences. Then corruption becomes their lifestyle, until all these lies and deceit will turn against itself and bring them to peril. Then everything will be taken away from them, including their souls.

Mozart is considered as one of the world's greatest musicians who ever lived. But as Christians, we only seek to be great in God's eyes. Let us use our talents for His service and strive to grow them so others may be blessed and God's kingdom expanded.

Well Done My Good and Faithful Servant

I started the morning hearing sad news. Bro. Rey Peralta, the head of the CFC National Music Ministry, passed away. A person I truly admire. A man blessed greatly with talent for music. A man who was a true servant of God...always humble...always smiling. He will be missed. Yet another sad news came to me, Bro. Joey Velasco also passed away. Also, a man who was truly gifted. His paintings depicted Christ in a way that struck the heart of every Filipino. A man who loved the poor and saw Jesus in each of them. He will be missed.

Two people who left a legacy of Christ's love to many. One through his music, another through his paintings. Life may be a great mystery, but one thing is certain: That we have to live life sharing God's love to the world. I salute you, brothers Rey and Joey. Thank you for showing us how to live a life that is full, a life serving our Lord Jesus Christ. Our sadness will turn into joy knowing you are with Jesus. Surely the Lord has welcomed you into the gates of heaven and said, "Well done, my good and faithful servant (Matthew 25:23)."