Veritas August 2024 Edition: Sacrifice and the Magnetism of Good (Part Three)

SACRIFICE

And the Magnetism of Good

(Part Three)

In the month of June, Part One of “Sacrifice and the Magnetism of Good” discussed the offering to God of the difficult challenges we face in life in other to enhance our spiritual and material wellbeing. Last month, July, we discussed in Part Two the intentional offering to God of certain sacrifices we voluntarily make in line with moral virtue. The necessity of discovering the peculiar sacrifice or sacrifices suitable for each and every person was highlighted, and story of Samson and Delilah in the bible was used as an example.

In this month of August, Part Three of Sacrifice and the Magnetism of Good will be looking at the gifts and talents of each person that needs to be enhanced or vivified by the sacrifices we make each day. When we reading the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25: 14 – 30), we will notice that the Master provided or gave talents to each of the three servants before traveling. The talents provided or given to each of the servants were not in equal proportion or quantity. The first got five talents, the second got two talents, and the third got one talent. In the same way, just as there is no human being on earth who is talentless, that is, who is born without any iota of talent and gift, we all do not also have equal talents and gifts. Some persons are more talented and gifted when compared to other persons. Also, studies in temperaments have shown that no human being is born without a dominant and a less dominant temperament, and each temperament predisposes a person towards certain professions or careers in life. Thus, knowing your dominant and less dominant temperaments, and the professions or careers in life you are predisposed to is essential to your knowing the professions or careers in life you are most suited for. And knowing the professions and careers you are most suited for should guide you on the area to channel your voluntary sacrifices to.

Furthermore, the servants with the five and two talents invested their talents and earned extra five and two talents respectively. The servant with the one talent did not invest his talent, and thus did not earn any extra talent. From the two servants who invested their talents and earned more talents, we learnt the necessity of knowing, investing, mastering, and growing one’s talents, gifts, business, work or job in other to earn more. The reverential fear they have for their master propelled them to work hard, master the investment world, and earn more talents. In the same way, the reverential fear we have for God, our Creator, who has created us with talents and gifts should propel us towards investing more time, energy, and resources into the business, job or work we do towards making it more profitable. The voluntary sacrifices we make can now be channeled towards our investment or work to enhance or vivify it towards making more profits, gains, or success.

Let us also learn some lessons from the servant who had one talent and buried it in the ground instead of investing it or, at least, putting it in the bank to yield interest. He too had fear for his master, but his fear lacked reverence or respect. Fear without reverence or respect breeds laziness and excuses deprived of goodwill to make things better. Hence, the servant hid the talent given to him in the ground, and returned it to the master without any additional talent. Part of his punishment was that the one talent he was given was taken away from him. In the same way, we have a lot of persons who have one excuse or the other for not making enough sacrifices to grow and develop themselves, their talents and gifts. They spend a lot of time in prayers, fasting, and attending religious programs asking God for financial breakthrough, without a corresponding time and sacrifice put into growing the business or work that they do. They have forgotten the principle which states that grace is built on nature. Here, nature refers to your talents and gifts which can be enhanced by God’s grace that flows from the prayers and sacrifices you are making towards growing your talents and gifts. Like the two servants who invested their talents, we should discover our talents and gifts, and grow or develop them through education, seminars, workshops, further training, investing more time and capital, etcetera. Prayers and sacrifices can accompany the development of our talents and gifts to further enhance and vivify them towards greater yields.

Just as it is futile for a farmer to throw the seeds of corn on the field and expect it to yield in abundance without digging the ground, weeding it, and maintaining the farm, so also it is futile for Christians to leave their financial growth and advancement in the hands of God through prayers and sacrifices without developing the talents and gifts God has given them. Part of the scandals of Christianity today is that many Christians have not been adequately taught biblical principles of wealth production as exemplified by wealthy biblical figures like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Job, Lot, Joseph the Dreamer, David, Solomon, Amos, Lydia, Dorcas, Joseph of Arimathea, etcetera. The prayers and sacrifices we make in Church await the works of our hands, trained in the principles of business management to help us bear fruits of wealth production.

Have you identified your talents and gifts? Have you started developing your talents and gifts through education, training, or more investment of your money and time? Do you know the kind of sacrifice or sacrifices you are to make towards growing your talents and gifts to yield more fruits for you? Always remember this: Grace Is Built On Nature!

(Sylvester Idemudia Odia, Ph.D., VERITAS: The official newspaper of the Catholic Archdiocese of Benin City, Vol. 15, No. 143, August 2024, p. 39)