And onto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one . . . . He that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money. Matt. 25:15-18.

All too often we tend to identify ourselves with the one-talent man, to deny our adequacy, to wrap our potentials in a napkin and bury them. The problem centers in our need for inner power. The person who feels inadequate, who has feelings of worthlessness, often concludes that it is no use trying anymore. He feels unable to meet life.

To live the Christian life does not mean that we must be capable of doing what the five-talent or the two-talent man can do. The issue has to do with becoming all that we can in Christ. This is all that God expects of us.

As Christians we can afford to acknowledge our limitations, even our failures. We do not need to compare ourselves with others, or to compete with them. Let us not bemoan our limited resources, or go back over past failures. In God's presence and love we find ourselves accepted in spite of our failure and inadequacy. He accepts us this way every day. We find life abundant, not in quantity but in quality. We do not live with uncertainty about ourselves, our goals, or priorities. We have settled that. Christ has taken over. We do not compare ourselves with others as to how good we are.

If we believe that God has taken over the responsibility for our lives, we will have contentment in life, enhance the one talent, and realize the possibility in it. Christ gives meaning and purpose to the one-talent man as much as to the five-talent man. We are happy in Christ as we are. God is pleased to make the one-talent man the means for carrying out His purpose. By consulting our personal pride, by yielding to poverty of mind, we unnecessarily make ourselves miserable and spoil the good work that God could do in us.

We are responsible for one thing: the extent of our commitment to Him. We no longer need to think of failure. We are free from anxiety and fear. In Christ we have a sense of well-being and self-worth. We need not pretend to be something that we are not. God's love can be just as much a living power in us as in anyone else.