Talents

Today I read Doctrine and Covenants section 60, a section given to the elders who had been sent to preach the gospel and were coming home. I was really intrigued by the part of the section where the Lord tells the elders to not hide their talents and to preach the gospel the way they had been commanded to and not to fear man.

The law of consecration is defined as using all your talents and everything the Lord has blessed you with to build up the kingdom of God. I'm also reminded of the parable of the talents. The parable of the talents is recorded in the New Testament and in it we are told by the Savior that we should not be ashamed or afraid to show our talents. Now in the story the Savior tells the talents are money, but even the Savior has told us that it is the same principle.

Everyone in this life is blessed with talents. Some are able to speak with eloquence, some are able to sing, some have a knowledge of the scriptures, and many others. Some are blessed with many talents and some with only a few. How ever everyone has at least one talent they are blessed with. Some are ashamed of their talents and try and hide them. However, the Lord is not pleased with such actions. In fact He equates it with fearing man more than God.

I have often wondered about some talents and how they can be used to build up the kingdom of God. For example, for a long time I used to wonder what the talent of singing well was for and how it could be used to build up the kingdom. However, the church frequently puts on concerts that have, in the past, touched some people's hearts so that they joined the church as a result. The Mormon Tabernacle choir comes to mind also. Some are gifted with the ability to write well and as a result should use those talents to spread the gospel through the written word. Others are gifted with the silver tongue and should use it to talk about the gospel.

There are other spiritual talents too. There is the talent to interpret scripture. There's a talent to interpret the promptings of the Spirit, I don't think I have that one. I have had many instances in my life where I have had a spiritual prompting to do something and even though I have done it, I have not recognized it as a prompting from the Spirit until much later. But there are talents to teach by the Spirit, to talk by the Spirit, by that I mean there are people who are in tune with the Spirit that the Lord can use them to teach others what the Lord would have them know without being in a formal teaching setting.

As in all other things, the Lord uses us as His instruments here on the earth to accomplish His work. We are given talents so that we can do what He needs us to do in His name. It can also enrich and bless our lives. Music is a huge part of all of our lives and all those who are blessed with a sweet sounding voice can bless the lives of all those who hear their voices. All talents are meant to be used and cultivated and used to build up the kingdom of God. As we strive to discover our talents we should work with the Lord to determine just what we can use it for to help do His work and His will. Until tomorrow.