Will we have talents in Heaven?

I was recently asked the question "do you believe we will take our talents to heaven with us?" Since this is a new thought for me, I hadn't thought of it before being asked the question, I did my best to collect my thoughts and feelings on the subject before answering. But what do you think, will we take our talents with us to heaven?

This is what I said:

I received your question about if I believe we have talents in heaven. Truthfully, I am not sure how I feel about that. Everything I have read said that we will be too busy worshipping God and glorifying Him to be concerned with other things. I am not one to really believe that. I believe we will of course be worshipping and glorifying God, but I do not think that will be the only thing occupying our time. I believe we will be able to fellowship with those who have passed before us as well. Part of worshipping and glorifying God, I believe is using our God-given talents. Will our talents stay the same when we get to heaven? I do not know. I did not think of having talents in heaven until you posed the question; however, since I started thinking about it, I feel that everyone's talents will be equal. Since heaven is not a place with tears, sorrows, grief, or any other negative emotion, it is simply supposed to be a very happy place, I do not see God giving each person a different talent. I think that would lead to jealousy which is not in heaven.

I understand not wanting to go to heaven if you will not have what make you "you" here on earth, there are certain things that would make me not want to go to heaven, but as my roommate said to me tonight... if you are simply going to heaven to see those who passed on before you (as in my case) then is that the right reason for wanting to go? Our primary reason to want to go to heaven should be to glorify God and fellowship with everyone. We should follow the saying JOY...Jesus first, others second and yourself last, even in heaven, so if God chooses to take away our earthly talents and replace them with something else, I think it would be to benefit everyone in heaven that He would do that. It's hard to say exactly what heaven will be like as there is nothing that gives us a definitive answer to a complete picture of heaven in scripture. We get bits and pieces and know enough to know that it will be a happy place where we are free of our restrictions here on earth -- whether they are physical, mental, or emotional -- and we know that it will be a much better place to reside for the rest of eternity than hell.

Blessings in Christ,