To Whom Much is Given, Luke 12:47-48

"And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit thing worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required; and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more."

     To whom much is given, much is expected. As children of God, fellow heirs with Christ, much is expected of us. When we were outside of communion with God, the Holy Spirit worked in us primarily to draw us into a relationship with God, to call upon Jesus as our Lord and Savior. But having entered into that relationship with God, now much is expected of us, for we have been given much. The Holy Spirit now works in us to cleanse us of bad habits and fleshly desires. He convicts us when we are disobedient and sinful. There is no condemnation when we fail, only love and grace and forgiveness, but yet conviction is there to turn us toward the right path, the path of righteousness.
     When we were still living in the world apart from Christ, we could do certain things and get away with them. We could drive like maniacs, cutting people off on the road and not really feel too bad about it. We could think only of ourselves and take all the food we wanted at a buffet and be pretty happy about it. We could forget other people, and not feel too guilty. We were consumed with ourselves, and yet we weren't really convicted for it. Why? Because God was working something far more important in us: the realization of a need for Jesus. We may have felt bad for some of the things mentioned above, but my point is that God's primary goal wasn't sanctification at that point, but salvation.
     But now that we have entered into salvation, God is working in us to bring about purity and sanctification. But the good news is that we don't have to do anything to achieve this. Jesus already paid the price for all of our sins, past, present, and future. Sanctification is merely the act of God cleansing our lives (not us cleansing our lives). The only thing we have to do to become pure and spotless in the eyes of God is accept what Jesus did for us on the cross, and the only thing we have to do to become sanctified is to surrender your will to Jesus and act in obedience to the promptings of His Spirit. He will let you know if you are doing something that is not pleasing to Him, and you have the option to obey or disobey. You don't have to figure out what He wants you to do, but simply pray and read His word, the Bible, and He will show you.

     In our walks with Christ, as well, there are differences between believers in regards to what He has given us. The servant with 5 talents which earned 5 more was not rebuked for having not gotten 10 more, but was commended for doubling what was given to him. In the same manner, some of us have been given great responsibility within the body of Christ, and thus much more is required of us.
     God reveals things to people for His purposes, and to those people who have been given insight and knowledge, wisdom and revelation, He requires that we be responsible with that gift and use it for His glory. Finding out what He would have you to do with it comes by prayer and fasting, by meditation on His word.
     If God has given you something, it is important to ask Him why He has given it to you, and what He would have you to do with it. God doesn't give things to people so they can bury them in the ground until He returns. He wants you to use the gift He's given you, and use it for His glory in accordance with His will. Start praying! Seek His will, seek His face, seek Him.