When I was a girl, I was part of a girls club. One of our mottos was: To be a faithful steward of my time, money and talents.
Now, for a middle school girl with no job and no money, whose time was largely governed by others, this didn’t seem too hard, especially during those awkward pre-teen years of wondering if you even have any talent other than annoying your sister.
However, as I have gotten older, this simple motto has become more complex. I’ve grown-up and have a family. No one dictates how I will spend my time; instead I do that for others. We have an income and a budget to balance. And my talents are different than what I thought they would be. But I still hear those words echoing…
…be a faithful manager.
A closer look at this motto shows three areas to faithfully manage: time, money, and talent.
Time management is the biggest challenge for me. It is far easier for me to come up with an abundant list of time-wasters than time-savers. There are so many books available on time management; you could easily spend all your time reading them. I don’t think there is any one clear plan to perfecting your day and taking command of your time. I do think it is necessary to find a system that will help you manage your day.
Money management can be a huge and daunting challenge. I know many who struggle with this one every single day. There is good news though, this is another area where there are lots of resources to help you learn good money management skills and some of them are even free.
Talent management is not exactly a common phrase. I can’t think of a single resource on this specific topic. Talent though, is widely varied and God-given. It is given to an individual for a purpose. Discovering your own talent can be downright hard to do. It may surprise you when you discover you have a knack and a love for something. Knowing if you are using your talent wisely is also difficult.
Last Sunday, I taught Sunday school to our group of elementary students. The lesson was on Samson, the last recorded judge of ancient Israel. He was incredibly gifted. He was extremely strong and he had a definite purpose. However, he goes down in history as one of the worst judges. He squandered his wealth and his strength, using them for selfish, temporal gain. He never practiced moderation and made a series of very bad decisions that eventually led to his downfall. Looking at Samson’s life, it is easy to see that he was not using is his talents faithfully or for their intended purpose.
Very few of us have been gifted with super-human abilities. Our talents and abilities may seem rather small and even pale in comparison to the guy next door. But as small as they may be, they were given to you for a specific purpose, to reach specific people.
We must choose to be faithful with our talents and our giftedness, no matter how slight we perceive it to be. It is making a difference to someone.
“Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” Mother Theresa
About Emily Buller