Heart > Talent

“But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” [Luke, 10:41-42]

“Talent” is a God-given skill that is supernatural in nature. 1 Peter 4:10 says that, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” But as we know, talent alone is nothing if we aren’t faithful stewards of that gift. We must always use our talents in service to others, as Christ has called us to love and serve one another. Think of it like this: Your musical gifts are rented. We have all worked with some very talented individuals who always want the spotlight? They have to have a solo, and must be up front for everyone to see. So while they have undeniable talent, there’s just… something… missing.

That something is Heart. What does it mean to have “Heart”? If your actions reflect an intense interest in a task, is that having heart? If you are obsessed with a skill to the point that your drive overrides better judgment, is that having heart? When we reflect on our physical heart, we know that its beat is constant. As long as we’re alive, it’s plugging away – doing its thing. It doesn’t get impatient or make a judgment call based on emotion and decide it will stop until the body caves to its bidding; its pulse is literally “the tempo of our lives”.

If there was ever one man who demonstrated perfectly the Heart > Talent, that person was David. David was described as “a man after God’s own heart” [Acts 13:22]. He recognized that the very essence of his being originated from God – and every loving heartbeat from the Father resounded in him. David’s love for God was inseparable from the physical nature of his own heart. David’s gift of music also reflected his heart for God – in that he used his gift of music completely for God. His music reflected true humility, reverence, respectfulness, trust, devotion, recognition for God, faithfulness, obedience, and repentance; so his talent was magnified by his heart for God! If we are to have a heart for the music, it firstly must – absolutely MUST – originate from our heart for God. When we open ourselves up and lay our musical talent at His feet, we will come to see that our heart for the talents He gave us will adopt the same characteristics as our physical heart and truly reflect God’s description of Love.