Your Skills and Talents

 

Your unique skills, talents, and spiritual gifts will shape your purpose.

~~ Watch the Video ~~

Outline:

• Everyone Who is Willing
• Finding Your Purpose in Life Series
• Skills, Abilities and Gifts
• Parable of the Talents
• Mastery
• People may call you arrogant
• My Story: God called me to teach
• Conclusion

Scriptures:

• Exodus 35:4-10
• 1 Peter 4:10-11
• Exodus 35:30-35
• Matthew 25:14 - 30

Everyone Who is Willing

Exodus 35:4-10

4 Moses said to the whole Israelite community, “This is what the Lord has commanded: 5 From what you have, take an offering for the Lord. Everyone who is willing is to bring to the Lord an offering of gold, silver and bronze;  6 blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair; 7 ram skins dyed red and another type of durable leather[a]; acacia wood; 8 olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; 9 and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece.

10 “All who are skilled among you are to come and make everything the Lord has commanded:

• Who should  bring an offering to the Lord?

• Everyone who is willing

• Who should make everything that the Lord commanded?

• Everyone who is skilled

God can use the skilled (anointed) and the willing.

Ask Yourself…

What are you good at?

What do you excel in?

What do people want to pay you to do?

What are your

• Skills
• Gifts
• Talents
• Abilities

Finding Your Purpose in Life Series

The two greatest days in your life are:

1. the day you were born
2. the day you figure out why you were born

– – Mark twain

Purpose is the fundamental reason that something exists

The Bible tells us that everything was created by God, the Designer, for a reason

If you want to find your purpose… You have to start with God

Your calling is the purpose that God created you for

• It's the end goal of your assignment on earth
• It is how you serve his purposes in your world

It is The part you play in “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven“

Having a purpose gives you

• a meaningful goal
• a sense of fulfilment
• clarity making life decisions
• makes suffering more bearable

“A calling“ is a God-given purpose

A Christian’s Callings

Christians have

1. General callings
2. A Unique calling

General Christian Callings

All Christians are called to:

1. To Love God
2. Love your neighbor
3. Make disciples

Unique Calling

Additionally, you were given unique

• Gifts, talents
• Personality
• Preferences
• Life experiences

to serve others, and to glorify God

In this series we will discover:

1. What a purpose is and why it matters
2. What are your are a unique attributes as it relates to your calling
3. What in your life has been preparing you for your destiny
4. What is your unique purpose
5. How to overcome the barriers preventing you from pursuing your purpose

Over the next year, I will walk alongside you and help guide you to finding your purpose

Skills, Abilities and Gifts

Three parts that make you unique

1. Natural ability
2. Acquired skills
3. Spiritual gifts

Natural Abilities and Talents

Every person was born with a set of unique abilities

• Natural ability to sing well
• The ability to run fast or jump high
• Ability to process complex mathematical equations
• Ability to create art
• The ability to lead others
• Make friends easily

Natural talents are abilities you have possessed for as long as you can remember.

Key Indicator

You feel like you were "born with it."

Your talents are part of your unique design.

Ask Yourself

 "What did I do well as a child without being told?"

 "What comes easily to me that others struggle with?"

We Devalue Our Natural Skills

The better you get at something the more you undervalue it

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8BxsQTJ/

What natural talents do you guys have?

Acquired Skills

Your "Toolbox"

Acquired skills are the result of intentional effort, education, and repetition.

These are things you didn't know how to do until someone taught you or you practiced them.

Source 

• Training
• Environment
• Discipline

Identification

Look at your certifications, degrees, or things you spent "10,000 hours" mastering.

Examples

• Speaking a second language
• coding in Python
• Carpentry / electrician

Key Indicator 

You can remember the "learning curve" and the specific time in your life when you didn't have this ability.

Opportunity and Adversity

We have skills acquired through

• Opportunity
• Adversity

You can get an opportunity that demands you to acquire skills that you don’t currently have in order to succeed in it.

Opportunity Example

you are a good singer

• They  ask you to join the choir
• You learn how to overcome the fear of performing in front of people
• Ability to memorize songs
• You may learn to read music
• You learn how to arrange songs
• Learn about the music industry

Adversity Example

lose your job

• Develop skills to make yourself more attractive to employers
• Take training
• Get certifications
• Develop skills necessary for a side hustle

As we bounce between opportunities and adversities throughout the course of our lives, we become better equipped to fulfill our unique destiny.

Your Spiritual Gifts

1 Peter 4:10-11

10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Spiritual gifts are special enablements given by the Holy Spirit to believers for the purpose of building up the church, helping others, or helping you connect with God

Examples 

• Prophecy
• discernment of spirits
• supernatural encouragement (exhortation)
• Speaking in tongues

Key Indicator

They are supernatural in effect. A natural talent might impress people, but a spiritual gift transforms them or builds up their faith.

Look for results that seem to exceed your own ability.

Do people experience spiritual breakthrough, comfort, or clarity when you serve?

Gift or Talent?

If you aren't sure if something is a talent or a gift, look at the fruit. If the result is simply "high performance," it's likely a talent. If the result is "spiritual growth in others," it's likely a gift.

The Holy Spirit Gives You Skills

Exodus 35:30-35

30 Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the Lord has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 31 and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills—

 32 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, 33 to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic crafts. 34 And he has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others. 35 He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers—all of them skilled workers and designers.

This is the first time in the Bible someone was filled with the Holy Spirit

What are some of the skills God filled the people with?

• to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze
• to cut and set stones
• to work in wood
• the ability to teach others
• engravers, designers, embroiderers, weavers

These were skills from the Holy Spirit

• These aren’t skills we usually use in church

The Holy Spirit empowers me to be effective… At a skill

God anoints a skill

The gifts of the Holy Spirit are skills

Give me a paintbrush and tell me how anointed I am

You are anointed “for something”

• When you step out of that something… The anointing doesn’t follow
• You need to follow the anointing… The anointing doesn’t follow you

God only empowers me to do what I’ve been called and purposed to do

God will prepare you when you need it

Did these people have these skills all their lives?

• no they were given the skills when God needed them to work

Don’t let the lack of a gift deter you because God can equip you with a gift at the time it is needed.

God calls us based on where we’re going to be not where we are

Just because you aren’t fully equipped to do something now doesn’t mean that it’s not your calling

Parable of the Talents

Matthew 25:14 - 30

14For it is just like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted them with his possessions. 15To one he gave five talents,b to another two talents, and to another one talent—each according to his own ability. And he went on his journey.

16The servant who had received the five talents went at once and put them to workc and gained five more. 17Likewise, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18But the servant who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money.

19After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20The servant who had received the five talents came and presented five more. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’

21His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master!’

22The servant who had received the two talents also came and said, ‘Master, you entrusted me with two talents. See, I have gained two more.’

23His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master!’

24Finally, the servant who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Master, I knew that you are a hard man, reaping where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what belongs to you.’

26‘You wicked, lazy servant!’ replied his master. ‘You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed. 27Then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received it back with interest.

28Therefore take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents. 29For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. But the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 30And throw that worthless servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

4 Takeaways

1. Purpose is Found in Stewardship, Not Ownership
2. Ability Determines Assignment
3. Success is Measured by Faithfulness, Not Impact
4. Inaction is the Only Real Failure

What reward did the first two servants get for correctly stewarding their talents?

• “Enter into the joy of your master”

Purpose is Found in Stewardship, Not Ownership

The "talents" do not belong to the servants; they belong to the Master.

• This teaches that our life, our time, and our natural abilities are not our own to do with as we please.

Lesson

• We aren't here to "find ourselves" or build our own empire; we are here to manage what has been entrusted to us for the Master’s benefit.
• Your purpose isn't something you "invent" for yourself; it is something entrusted to you by God.

Story: Francis Chan friends job

Application

Your purpose is to act as a manager (steward) of your unique resources to help others and honor God.

When looking for your purpose, ask: "What has been lent to me?"

This includes:

• natural skills
• education
• upbringing
• your unique hardships

You are a steward of these assets, meant to manage them for the "Master’s" objectives rather than just your own comfort.

Ability Determines Assignment

The master gives five talents to one, two to another, and one to a third—each "according to his ability."

No Comparisons

Purpose is not a competition.

The master did not expect the two-talent servant to produce as much as the five-talent servant.

Sufficient Grace

This suggests that you already have exactly what you need to fulfill the specific mission you were created for. You are not "behind" someone else because you have different gifts; you are simply assigned a different role.

The Lesson

Purpose is proportional. You aren't expected to fulfill someone else’s calling; you are responsible for the specific "weight" you’ve been given.

Application

Finding your purpose often involves an honest assessment of your current capacity. If you have a "two-talent" capacity for music but a "five-talent" capacity for leadership, your primary purpose likely lies where your highest capacity meets the world's needs.

Economics Class

I took a macro economics class in college

Ideal society/economy

• Everyone does what they are the best at.

Not necessarily that you were better than everyone else, but you are better at this skill than you are and anything else.

Success is Measured by Faithfulness, Not Impact

When the master returns, he gives the exact same commendation to both the servant who made five and the servant who made two: "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much."

The Equalizer 

In God's eyes, a person who uses a small gift to its full potential is just as successful as a person who leads a global movement. Your purpose is measured by your commitment to what you have, not the magnitude of your results.

Inaction is the Only Real Failure

The third servant was not punished for losing money, but for doing nothing. Out of fear, he buried his potential in the ground.

Faith Requires Risk: 

Living out your purpose requires risk. The first two servants had to "go at once" and trade, which involved the possibility of loss.

Fear as an Obstacle: 

Often, what keeps us from our purpose isn't a lack of ability, but a fear of failure or a "hard" view of God that makes us play it safe.

The Lesson: 

You cannot fulfill your purpose if you are playing it safe. The servant was condemned not because he lost the money, but because he did nothing with it.

Application 

Many people miss their purpose because they are waiting for a "risk-free" path. The parable suggests that "burying" your potential—staying in a comfort zone out of fear of failure—is the only true way to fail.

Why you stay stuck and don’t reach potential

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8AFAH4F/

Mastery

Who has made a New Year’s Resolution?

Are your New Year's Resolutions all about the things in your life that need improvement?

We’re focused on fixing the things that are wrong

• You might want to also work on the things that are right
• better
• …Mastery

Hone Your Talents

We all need to hone and mature our talents through practice and preparation.

you need skill to accomplish your purpose

It was not David’s first time using a slingshot

• He had been practicing

Pastor Example

A pastor can be anointed to preach, and

• Hard to follow
• Incoherent in his speaking presentation
• Offputting delivery

“Man, that was a powerful sermon… But I don’t remember what he said“

Sermon structure impacts the comprehension and retention

The willingness to develop the skills that you think you need to accomplish what God called you to is an act of faith

Practice Makes Permanent

https://youtu.be/fnRzeRaueoU?si=HcKiX2-kVjUWrPJE

Parable of the Talents

In the parable of the talents, the man that Jesus calls "wicked and lazy" did not lose the talent.

He still had it. He just didn't multiply it.

He was called wicked and lazy because he had the capacity for multiplication and he did not multiply.

Here's what this means for you:

You have talents

• You need to multiply them

Fulfilling your purpose may require  moving from competent to expert to mastery.

Mastery is the ability to do a thing with unique competence 80 to 90% of the time.

When you reach mastery: The process creates a different version of you that did not exist before.

Example: Coworker

• Playing guitar as child
• Could pick up songs by ear
• Practices every day

How good would you be if you worked on improving every day?

Difference between a professional and an amateur is

• Amateurs play more than they practice
• Professionals practice more than they play

Difference

• Amateurs play every time they go to the gym
• NBA - 48 minutes
• Drills
• Weight training

Do It Until You Can’t Get It Wrong

https://youtu.be/Dd8jP5GHzf0

People may call you arrogant

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DS0JNazD4Pq/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

My Story: God called me to teach

• Natural ability to learn
• Acquired skills from tutoring in college
• Spiritual gift of studying the Bible
• Didn’t enjoy reading
• I had read less than 10 books for pleasure in my life
• Flow

Needed to learn teaching skills

• Filler words
• Interpret Bible for myself

• Concordances
• Commentaries
• Hebrew/Greek

• Engagement techniques

• Social media videos
• Break

• Structure

• Biblical context
• Literal interpretation
• Application

• Tell me what you’re gonna tell him, tell him, tell him what you told him

Conclusion

We are ready to fulfill our unique destiny when the three intersect to let us amplify our impact

• Acquired skills
• Spiritual gifts.
• Natural abilities

Some of these talents emerge early on. We have to learn how to use these talents in a way that contributes to human flourishing not just to ourselves but also for others

It takes time for you to hone and mature your natural abilities

We rarely know what type of skills or character sets we will need when it comes time to make our ultimate contribution

That’s why the process of life is valuable.

• The ups and downs
• The opportunities and adversities.

They refine us in a way to bless ourselves and others

We have to remember that

• The gifts and talents are gods
• The purpose is gods

Instructor: Michael Leadon

References

The one thing you need to understand about your purpose

Darius Daniels TV

Why purpose is the only path to fulfillment

Bible study with Myron Golden

Purpose Driven Life

Rick Warren

Your Purpose is Calling

Darius Daniels

Walk Into Your Purpose (Keynote)
Michael Leadon

Extra

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRusR9qDFSY/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

The neighbor practicing violin

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8yneHYH/

Profiting from Your Purpose

Develop a purposeful skill set

Be efficient

• Time
• Opportunities
• gifts

figure out an efficient way to create value that other people in this world will be willing to pay for

Be purposely expressive

get as good at explaining the value of what you’ve created to people as you were of creating it

Develop a purposeful tool set

learn the tools of your trade

Solomon made people pay him for his wisdom

———-

we are given different abilities

you may be good at

• Math
• Music
• Mechanics
• Cooking
• Speaking

Parable of the Talents

The Reward for Purpose is More Responsibility

When the master returns, he doesn't tell the faithful servants they can now retire. He says, "You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much."

• The Lesson: Purpose is a moving target. Success in a small assignment is the "green light" for a larger one.
• Application: Don't despise the "small" parts of your life right now. Being a faithful student, a helpful neighbor, or a diligent worker is the "trading" phase that prepares you for your larger life's work.