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By Mallory Mattingly
Atlanta Falcons running back Nathan Carter recently encouraged men to “embrace” their “spiritual DNA.”
“What’s better than hearing Jesus — when we see him face to face [and] He says, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant’ — what’s better than that?” Carter asked in a video shared on Instagram.
“Our spiritual DNA of being dependent on God, needing community and being a witness is reflecting on Christ’s life and mission, and it’s through embracing those things that we become the men that God has created us to be,” the running back added.
“Every single one of us receives a new spiritual nature through the power of the Holy Spirit that now lives inside of us,” he continued in the caption. “And it is through embracing our ‘DNA’ that we grow and become more like Christ. To one day hear those wonderful words, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant.'”
Related: Falcons’ Nathan Carter Invites Fans to ‘Come and See’ the Goodness of Jesus
Those words by Jesus come from Matthew 25:14-30 and the parable of the three servants, also known as the parable of the talents.
In the parable, a wealthy man goes on a long journey, but before he leaves, he entrusts his property to three of his servants, dividing it based on their unique abilities. In biblical times, a “talent” wasn’t a skill — it was a massive unit of currency. According to Bible Hub, “The value of a single talent was equivalent to about 6,000 denarii, with a denarius being a day’s wage for a laborer.” So even the servant who received just one talent was being trusted with a small fortune.
The wealthy man gave the first servant five talents, who immediately put the money to work and ended up doubling his talents to 10. The second servant got just two talents, but he also invested and traded with them, so he doubled his talents to four. However, the third servant was given one talent, and instead of investing it, he dug a hole in the ground and hid it.
When the master returned, he talked to the three servants. The first two servants were praised equally: “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.”
But the third servant stepped up and made excuses as to why he put his money in the ground. He told the master: “I knew that you are a hard man… so I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground.”
This made the master very angry, to the point where he called the third servant a “wicked and lazy” man, pointing out that at the very least, he could have put the money in the bank to earn basic interest. The master takes the single talent away, gives it to the first and casts the lazy servant out.
Ultimately, the parable serves as a powerful reminder that our gifts resources, and time are not meant to be hoarded out of fear but invested with purpose.
Just like the first two servants, embracing our “spiritual DNA” and living out that divine potential requires stepping out in faith, relying on community and actively putting our faith to work. By refusing to bury what we’ve been given in the dirt of comfort or anxiety, we open ourselves up to true spiritual growth — ensuring that when our time comes to stand before the Master, we too will hear those definitive, comforting words: “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”
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