17. In your own words, briefly relate the parable of the talents.

¹⁷ Consider Jesus’ parable of the talents, as recorded at Matthew 25:14-30. A man who was about to travel abroad summoned his slaves and committed his belongings to them. “To one he gave five talents, to another two, to still another one, to each one according to his own ability.” When the master returned to settle accounts with his slaves, what did he find? The slave who had been given five talents gained five talents more. Similarly, the slave who had been given two talents gained two talents more. The slave who had been given one talent buried it in the ground and did nothing to increase his master’s wealth. What was the master’s assessment of the situation?

18, 19. (a) Why did the master not compare the slave given two talents with the slave given five talents? (b) What does the parable of the talents teach us about commendation and comparisons? (c) Why was the third slave judged adversely?

¹⁸ First, let us consider the slaves who were given five and two talents respectively. To each of these slaves, the master said: “Well done, good and faithful slave!” Would he have said this to the slave with five talents if that one had gained only two? Unlikely! On the other hand, he did not say to the slave who gained two talents: ‘Why did you not gain five? Why, look at your fellow slave and how much he gained for me!’ No, the compassionate master, who pictured Jesus, did not make comparisons. He assigned the talents “to each one according to his own ability,” and he expected nothing more back than what each one could give. Both slaves got equal commendation, for both worked whole-souled for their master. All of us can learn from this.

20. How does Jehovah view our limitations?

²⁰ Jehovah expects each of us to love him with our whole strength, yet how heartwarming it is that “he himself well knows the formation of us, remembering that we are dust”! (Psalm 103:14) Proverbs 21:2 says that “Jehovah is making an estimate of hearts”​—not of statistics. He understands any limitations over which we have no control, whether they are financial, physical, emotional, or otherwise. (Isaiah 63:9) At the same time, he expects us to make the most of all the resources that we may have. Jehovah is perfect, but when dealing with his imperfect worshipers, he is not a perfectionist. He is neither unreasonable in his dealings nor unrealistic in his expectations.