Welcome back friends!
I hope you are all having a wonderful week. Please know how much you are loved! This week in my religion class we discussed
the parable of the talents. Before I go
into that, let’s brush up on what exactly a parable is—Christ used them frequently
to teach His disciples and others. As taught
by my professor, a parable is a setting side by side with concrete elements and
symbolism of doctrine and principles.
Christ used parables to explain abstract ideas through concrete
stories. One other important thing to
note before we jump in: there is often only one interpretation to a parable,
but there are infinite applications.
Today I want to give you just one.
Matthew 25:14-15
“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.”
Notice the part I emphasized in those verses. In the world’s eyes, giving one man five
talents and another only one is completely unfair. But the words, “according to his several
ability”, are crucial to understanding this parable. God gave differing talents based on individual
need and capacity. He knew His servants’
abilities and gave accordingly. The
principle I learned from this about God’s nature is quite profound. In His grace and mercy, He only gives as much
as He knows each child can handle.
These verses are meaningful to me because they also teach
that God will only give me trials that I can handle, and I know He will help me
during this mortal journey through His son, Jesus Christ. One other part of this story that I love is
that when the master returned to his servants, He gave back the talents in full and said to both, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant... enter thou into the joy of thy Lord" (Matthew 25: 21, 23). The
one who had ten and the one who only had four were both treated justly, because
they did their very best. This is one of many reasons I love this story. It teaches of a
just and loving God who gives based on individual need and blesses based on
individual ability.
My friends, “If for a while the harder you try, the harder
it seems, take heart. So it has been
with the best people that ever lived” (as taught by Elder Holland). Keep trying.
Don’t quit. You can do all
things through Christ, our Savior and Redeemer.
With those words in mind, have a happy week.
Until next time,
Brianna
Image from Google
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