Matthew 5:16 “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Is your light shining?
All those who know Christ have living within them an electromagnetic source of energy that disperses darkness, creates warmth and reflects the source of life. Believers carry the light of God. And that light is meant to shine.
Scripture clearly shows us how to shine that light—by doing works of such good report that others will see and think well of Christianity. Someone has said when we get to heaven the Lord will not say, “well thought, or well-planned good and faithful servant,” but “well done.”
Shining the light of Christ means doing something. Something with purpose. We shine the light so those who see our good works may be brought to glorify our Father which is in heaven. If we want other people to see God, the best thing we can do is turn on the light switch.
But just as different wavelengths in the light spectrum produce different colors, so each of us possess different possibilities in how to shine his light. It doesn’t matter whether we have a big splashy gift or a subdued ordinary one. God expects us to use whatever he has given us, not hide it under a bushel (Matthew 5:15). He gifted us differently because the world needs to see the whole spectrum of the rainbow.
Satan tries to deflect the light, making us think what we have to offer has little to no significance. He wants us to emulate the steward who hid his talent, and we know how that turned out (Matthew 25:18-28). Who wants to someday stand before the Lord and hear him ask soul-stripping questions. Like “Why didn’t you use your gift of boldness to stand up against that bully?” Why didn’t you use that gift of generosity to help a neighbor who had less than you?” “Why didn’t you use that gift of intelligence to direct your co-worker to the logic of the gospel?”
At the end of each of my college classes, I close with the admonition from Matthew 5:16. I hope to charge up that electromagnetic energy in each of my students. And today I pray as you are reading this that you, too, will find encouragement to let your light shine.