God gives you talents, guides your capacity, and grades you based on fidelity (faithfulness) not productivity.

3 Helpful Distinctions to Recognize “Talents”: Talents, Skills, and Spiritual Gifts

Talents: a natural ability or aptitude to do something well, typically without initial training

Skills: a strength, ability, or aptitude that can be learned / developed

Spiritual Gifts: an unearned, supernatural capacity given by the Holy Spirit to a believer for glorifying God through building up the church, serving others, and/or growing the Kingdom

Faithful/industrious > commendation and greater responsibility;

Fearful/lazy > Judgment and loss 

Talanton (talent) was a weight of money worth roughly twenty years' wages

3 Potential Paths to Squander Talents: Fear, Comparison, and Self-centeredness

Fear: We can squander our “talents” by being afraid of failure or even just perception.

Comparison > We can squander our “talents” if we allow ourselves to be distracted by what other people have and/or do.

Self-Centredness > We can squander our “talents” if we spend them primarily (entirely?) on ourselves.

The carrying out of God’s work should generally manifest itself in the result of “common good” and “building up” of community (especially the body of Christ).

3 Responses of a Good and Faithful Servant: Participation, Faithfulness, and Anticipation 

Participation

Faithfulness

Anticipation

The joy of God is what can sustain our lifelong, grace-driven, faithful stewardship.