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| What God Expects of Us |
Jesus Christ’s interactions with others showed He knows and loves us each individually. In Mark 12:41–44 in the Bible we read that Jesus one day sat outside the treasury of the temple, watching as people came to make offerings to the temple.
After many large donations by wealthy people, a widow came and donated two small mites—the smallest denomination of currency—into the treasury. Jesus called to His disciples and said the widow had cast more into the treasury than the rich, because while the rich had donated from their surplus they didn’t really need, the widow had cast in “all her living.”
Likewise, we can have faith that our efforts to live righteously will be judged individually, within the context of our personal abilities and circumstances. Our job is not to compare ourselves to others but focus on our own daily improvement.
Missionaries can share more of Jesus’s teachings with you and answer your questions. |
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| The Parable of the Talents |
To illustrate the effort that God expects of us, Jesus told a story of a man who gave three of his servants a different sum of money based on the abilities they had demonstrated in past. One servant received five talents, one received two talents, and the last received a single talent.
When the master of the house returned after a long absence, he asked each servant to give an accounting of the talents they had been given.
The servant who received five talents and the servant who received two talents each reported they had been diligent while their master was gone and doubled the investment. This was greeted with praise: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things.”
But the servant who had received one talent reported he had hidden it in the ground for fear of losing it. The master of the house was angry, calling the servant “slothful.” He took the talent that servant had and gave it to the servant with 10 talents. (See Matthew 25:14–30.)
God has given each of us unique talents and abilities. Whether we have been blessed with many talents or few, God expects us to work to improve and add upon what we are given and return to His presence someday a better person. |
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