I Learned a Powerful Lesson on Maximizing My Potential From the Bible
Believer or not, you can’t deny that The Parable of the Talents can teach us a thing or two about maximizing our potential.
In the 25th Chapter of Matthew, we learn of a master who left three of his servants some talents before leaving on a journey. He gave each servant five, two, and one piece respectively.
Upon his return, he discovers that all but one of the talents he left were doubled: The first servant who received five talents increased his to ten, and the second servant did likewise, doubling his two to four talents. This pleased the master greatly, praising his two servants for their efforts.
But the third servant, being fearful, dug a hole in the ground and buried his one and only talent, “keeping it safe”. Disappointed, the master stripped him of his only coin and gave it to him who had ten.
The story concludes with the following verse:
For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
Although the ‘talent’ in the story refers to ancient Hebrew currency, it would not be a long shot to directly compare it to our own individual ‘talents’, the abilities and set attributes we were born with.
The moral of the parable is simple — make do with whatever you were given, to the best of your ability.
Aim high! Seize the day. As my old high school motto suggests, launch into the deep. Don’t waste away on living through the daily motions, without ever reaching your highest potential.
I think the Spiderman franchise was right on the money with that wildly famous quote: “with great power, comes great responsibility.” As sick as I am of hearing this, I could not agree more.
It is our duty to make sure that we multiply the hand that we were dealt with.
Imagine someone like LeBron James not playing basketball professionally nor spreading his positive influence all over the world, benefiting millions of disadvantaged kids the world over like he has for many many years. That would be a total waste.
True, there are many talented individuals who just want to go for the easy-going, simple life, probably out in the countryside. And I can’t condemn that outright for the simple reason that they could still impact the people there; not to mention the happiness aspect of it which is just as important, if not more.
However, one thing holds true for anyone who doesn’t cultivate the gifts they were given, whether it be the computer genius turned farmer or the football prodigy who slacks off at practice — their talents deteriorate over time. That’s something that each of us should really pay attention to.
I truly believe that we all have the duty of contributing to the progression of the human race by cultivating the talents we’ve been blessed with and creating value where we are needed the most.
On the other hand, we also have the right to choose to live a life that makes us happy.
It’s often that these two go hand in hand, but just in case it feels like you’re pulling in opposite directions, I think it’s imperative that you seek out that perfect mix of both — to really study out the nuances of that trade-off, its costs and benefits, then make a decision off of that.
