I am grateful to know that I have been blessed with many talents in my life. I can sing, dance, play the piano, and teach. When I was young, however, I often used to wonder if it was appropriate for me to show these talents off, or to be proud of them. I had always been taught that we should be humble and not prideful. On the other hand, I had been taught that we should let our lights shine and that we should use and multiply our talents. I was always in confusion about what attitude I should have. If I were proud of my accomplishments and my talents, was I doing something wrong? Was I lacking humility? If I were to hide these things, was I failing to use and develop my talents? Was I hiding my light under a bushel?
As I have thought about these questions, I have come to realise that perhaps we need to rethink pride and humility. We've always been taught that if you are prideful, you put yourself higher than others, and when somebody has asked what humility is, they invariably get told that it is the opposite of pride.
I would like to expand on these definitions. Pride is not simply putting ourselves higher than others. Rather, it is a self-centred attitude in which we think we can accomplish everything on our own.
Humility, on the other hand is a selfless attitude that is borne of gratitude for all that we have. Rather than believing that we can accomplish everything on our own, we recognise that everything we have is a gift that should be shared. I love this quote from Gordon B. Hinckley, which perfectly shows what humility is all about: “Being humble means recognizing that we are not on earth to see how important we can become, but to see how much difference we can make in the lives of others.”
So often, we are of the attitude that if we want to be humble, we should put ourselves down. However, if we spend all our time focusing on putting ourselves down, we are becoming pridefully self-centred. I read somewhere that humility does not mean that we put ourselves down, but that we recognise that we are part of a bigger plan. If we keep our attention on that bigger plan and try to understand our part in it, we will find ourselves becoming less selfish and more selfless.
Where does all of this fit with our talents? A prideful attitude means that we believe we have accomplished everything on our own, while a humble attitude means that we recognise that those talents we have are gifts from a loving Heavenly Father. As we realise this, we will begin to have a desire to make the most of them and share them with others.
If we look at the parable of the talents, as shared in the book of Matthew in the New Testament, we see a master giving three of his servants a portion of money each before going away for a time. A talent was a very large amount of money, and the three servants received an amount suited to their abilities (Matthew 25:15).
While he was gone, two of the servants traded and invested and managed to increase their money. When their master returned, he congratulated them and rewarded them. The third servant, however, was scared of his master. He decided that, to avoid the risk of losing his portion, he would hide it in a safe place so that he could return it when his master arrived back. When the master returned, he was angry with this third servant because he had done nothing with his money. He asked him why he had not at least invested it -- he wouldn't have had to do anything, but it still would have increased. As a result, the master took the third servant's money away from him and gave it to one of the other servants, who had proven that he would be wise with it.
How often are we like the third servant?
... And as a result, we end up burying our talents. We either think we do not need to improve, or we are too scared to show that we have talents. The end result is the same, either way: when our Master, who gave us these talents, returns, He will be angry with us for not using what He gave us, and He will take them away.
If we look at these excuses, all of them are self-centered. Even the last excuse, which appears to be borne of humility, is more focused on looking humble than on blessing the lives of others.
Thus, as we make excuses, we do so out of a form of pride. Therefore, if we truly want to become humble, we need to change our attitudes. We need to embrace and develop the talents we have been given -- indeed, that we have been blessed with.
However, we can also find ourselves being prideful as we do share our talents. Therefore, we should always remember from whence our talents come. If we find ourselves focusing on how much we have done, we need to reconsider how we view our talents. On the other hand, if we always remember that we were given the talents, strengths and opportunities, we are on our way towards humility. Ask yourself, "Am I doing this to get attention or to bless the lives of those around me?"
A friend of mine said that humility is not putting ourselves down, but rather elevating ourselves to understand God's will. As we try to emulate Him, we will find that we are less focused on ourselves, and more focused on a charitable love for others. This will help us to develop the right attitude.
While he was gone, two of the servants traded and invested and managed to increase their money. When their master returned, he congratulated them and rewarded them. The third servant, however, was scared of his master. He decided that, to avoid the risk of losing his portion, he would hide it in a safe place so that he could return it when his master arrived back. When the master returned, he was angry with this third servant because he had done nothing with his money. He asked him why he had not at least invested it -- he wouldn't have had to do anything, but it still would have increased. As a result, the master took the third servant's money away from him and gave it to one of the other servants, who had proven that he would be wise with it.
How often are we like the third servant?
- He may have asked, "I already have more than I need, so why do I need to increase it?" We ask, "I already have the talent, so why should I take lessons?"
- He may have said, "People invest because they don't have enough to start with. I do, so I don't need to invest." We say, "Practising is for people who have no talent. I already have the talent, so I don't need to practise."
- He may have thought, "Even though I have some money, there are others who have more. What if they make fun of me for how little I have?" We say, "If I tell people that I have a talent, they might ask me to show them... What if they are better than me and make fun of me?"
- He may have questioned, "If I go to the money traders and show them what I have, aren't I showing it off? Aren't I drawing attention to myself? Maybe I should just leave it so that people don't know." We ask, "Aren't I flaunting my talents if I tell people about them or if I perform? Won't that seem prideful? Maybe I should just sit back and watch the others."
... And as a result, we end up burying our talents. We either think we do not need to improve, or we are too scared to show that we have talents. The end result is the same, either way: when our Master, who gave us these talents, returns, He will be angry with us for not using what He gave us, and He will take them away.
If we look at these excuses, all of them are self-centered. Even the last excuse, which appears to be borne of humility, is more focused on looking humble than on blessing the lives of others.
Thus, as we make excuses, we do so out of a form of pride. Therefore, if we truly want to become humble, we need to change our attitudes. We need to embrace and develop the talents we have been given -- indeed, that we have been blessed with.
However, we can also find ourselves being prideful as we do share our talents. Therefore, we should always remember from whence our talents come. If we find ourselves focusing on how much we have done, we need to reconsider how we view our talents. On the other hand, if we always remember that we were given the talents, strengths and opportunities, we are on our way towards humility. Ask yourself, "Am I doing this to get attention or to bless the lives of those around me?"
A friend of mine said that humility is not putting ourselves down, but rather elevating ourselves to understand God's will. As we try to emulate Him, we will find that we are less focused on ourselves, and more focused on a charitable love for others. This will help us to develop the right attitude.
No comments:
Post a Comment