What is the difference between a talent and a spiritual gift?

There are similarities and differences between talents and spiritual
gifts. Both are gifts from God. Both grow in effectiveness with use.
Both are intended to be used on behalf of others, not for selfish
purposes. First Corinthians 12:7 states that spiritual gifts are given
to benefit others and not ourselves. As the two great commandments
deal with loving God and others, it follows that one should use his
talents for those purposes. But to whom and when talents and spiritual
gifts are given differs. A person (regardless of his belief in God or
in Christ) is given a natural talent as a result of a combination of
genetics (some have natural ability in music, art, or mathematics) and
surroundings (growing up in a musical family will aid one in
developing a talent for music), or because God desired to endow
certain individuals with certain talents (for example, Bezalel in
Exodus 31:1-6). Spiritual gifts are given to all believers by the Holy
Spirit (Romans 12:3, 6) at the time they place their faith in Christ
for the forgiveness of their sins. At that moment, the Holy Spirit
gives to the new believer the spiritual gift(s) He desires the
believer to have (1 Corinthians 12:11).

Romans 12:3-8 lists the spiritual gifts as follows: prophecy, serving
others (in a general sense), teaching, exhorting, generosity,
leadership, and showing mercy. First Corinthians 12:8-11 lists the
gifts as the word of wisdom (ability to communicate spiritual wisdom),
the word of knowledge (ability to communicate practical truth), faith
(unusual reliance upon God), the working of miracles, prophecy,
discerning of spirits, tongues (ability to speak in a language that
one has not studied), and interpretation of tongues. The third list is
found in Ephesians 4:10-12, which speaks of God giving to His church
apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers. There is also a
question as to how many spiritual gifts there are, as no two lists are
the same. It is also possible that the biblical lists are not
exhaustive, that there are additional spiritual gifts beyond the ones
the Bible mentions.

While one may develop his talents and later direct his profession or
hobby along those lines, spiritual gifts were given by the Holy Spirit
for the building up of Christ's church. In that, all Christians are to
play an active part in the furtherance of the gospel of Christ. All
are called and equipped to be involved in the "work of the ministry"
(Ephesians 4:12). All are gifted so that they can contribute to the
cause of Christ out of gratitude for all He has done for them. In
doing so, they also find fulfillment in life through their labor for
Christ. It is the job of the church leaders to help build up the
saints so they can be further equipped for the ministry to which God
has called them. The intended result of spiritual gifts is that the
church as a whole can grow, being strengthened by the combined supply
of each member of Christ's body.

To summarize the differences between spiritual gifts and talents: 1) A
talent is the result of genetics and/or training, while a spiritual
gift is the result of the power of the Holy Spirit. 2) A talent can be
possessed by anyone, Christian or non-Christian, while spiritual gifts
are only possessed by Christians. 3) While both talents and spiritual
gifts should be used for God's glory and to minister to others,
spiritual gifts are focused on these tasks, while talents can be used
entirely for non-spiritual purposes.