Finding our talents

By Bob Lichty, MMA director of sales

I have a strong gift for service. This puts me in with peacemakers, the technical crew, the cooks, the key grips, the benchwarmers, the batboys and ball girls. I proudly identify with those who desire to live a life assisting those who are gifted for the spotlight. This would include all those who sew for a living in this world.

In seventh grade home economics, we spent one part of the semester cooking (somewhere, someone is still raving about my Rice Krispie Treats), and one part of the semester sewing. Now, I could have picked anything from a wide selection of projects to sew. But I chose the Daffy Duck puppet. I worked hard at my project, but it was truly doomed from the start.

I did end up with a black mass of fabric you could put around your hand. It had an orange blob resembling what could be a beak. It had two googly eyes glued in proximity to the orange blob. Let’s just say I got a “mercy D.” Combined with the A from those legendary Rice Krispie Treats, I got a B-minus in home economics. Service? Yes. Talent in sewing? No.

Yes, you have talent
One of the greatest misconceptions about talent is that some people have it and some people don’t. This is true of specific talents; it is not true of talent as a whole. There is a reason we all have different talents. Think how much less meaningful the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel would be if we could all yield a brush as Michelangelo did. Or, imagine how different Sunday sermons would be if no one had the talent for public speaking. Many kinds of talents are within us, waiting for God to reveal them at the right time.

Finding talent
Truth is, you probably have some idea of what your talent is. Even if you walk with humility, you probably know there is something you can do that others can’t. This is nothing to be ashamed of. God gave us all different talents. God wants us to use them the best we can to serve him.

When trying to identify your talents, look for areas where you have a natural ability. Look at what you can do that others struggle with. Then see how that skill ties in with your spiritual gifts.

Okay, so we won’t all be musicians, artists, cooks, accountants, or golfers. But we will all be exactly what God wants us to be if we turn both our talents and gifts over to him.

This article is an excerpt from Bob’s book, entitled “Talent Show: Your Faith in Full Color,” which may be purchased from the MMA Bookstore.