The Parable of the Talents: Alternative Message

I was listening to "Financial Peace University" CD's. He was teaching about the The Parable of the Talents and the importance of being good stewards of our finances.

Then, I started wondering if the moral of the story could apply to areas of my life outside of personal finances. The moral of the story is that God will bless you if you are a good steward of what He gives you. If you are not, do not expect to be given more.

So, what about other areas of my life? What about other gifts He gives me? If I am gifted with wisdom, but I don't use it or if I use it in an ungodly way, will he take that from me? If I am put in a leadership position or head of a ministry, and I don't serve that ministry with the right spirit, will that be taken from me?

What if I'm given the head of a household? What if I'm not a good steward of that responsibility? He will not take a marriage away from me, but He certainly won't give me an abundant marriage.

A few things caught my attention about this parable:
* The Master entrusted the servants with His property. It's not ours to begin with. This is why we can't boast about it or lord it over anyone. We did nothing to earn blessings, they are gifts from God.
* The servants had to work to multiply the Master's property. It takes work! Look what happened to the servant who did nothing with the gift, but bury it.
* God rewarded the faithful ones and then gave them more.. There are consequences for the way we steward God's blessings. We will have to answer for things we do.
* God gave the property of the lazy servant to the faithful servant. My biggest fear is facing God and learning that He wanted me to impact The Kingdom, but because of my laziness, he took away my gift or blessing and gave it to another and that other person was able to partner with God to impact the Kingdom. For me, all I have is a missed opportunity.