Talents and Divine Nature

I was thinking about how I managed to build all the talents I have. What drove me to do it? What caused me to feel that I could try and succeed?

One thing that encouraged me was when my Mom would say to me every so often, “You’ve inherited this talent from your grandmother.” Or “You’ve gotten this talent from your father.” Or “You’ve gotten this talent from your great great grandfather on your Dad’s side.”

I never questioned her statements, but I began to wonder recently, Can talents be passed along in our genes? This does not seem to me to be quite possible, yet I have to admit that what my mother said was in effect a self-fulfilling prophecy, because no sooner did she note that my abilities were inherited, than I began to try to develop them, partly because I subconsciously wished to strengthen my personal connection with the relatives whose abilities Mom said I inherited, and mostly because Mom said those abilities were in me.

My Mom was very clever, perhaps without knowing it. It is hard to try new things without knowing if you have a talent for them, but it is easy to try new things after you’ve been told you have inherited a special talent for it. It causes you to go into it with a confidence you will succeed eventually. That confidence is particularly helpful in the beginning stages when it is difficult. Mom made it easy for me to try new things.

But back to the question... Is talent really inherited from our parents and ancestors? I haven’t reached any conclusion on this, but in thinking about it, I DID realize that because I am a spirit daughter of God, I have the potential to become as He is. That means I have inherited all His talents and they are in embryo in me. This empowers me much more, because every good talent is one He possesses, which means I also possess them too, in embryo. I just have to develop them.

Ah, I finally understand divine potential better! And it has freed me! I have a talent for everything good! And so do you! We just have to develop them! It’s a good thing I have eternity after this life to do this, because otherwise I’d feel like there was too little time, and that would be depressing.