Unmasked | Anonymous | Shine Your Light

Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father… Matthew 5:16

If we’re going to let our lights shine, we need to understand what that means. The purpose of light is to dispel darkness. We don’t appreciate candlelight outside on a sunny day. We don’t turn on our flashlights inside a bright room. But if we bring that same candle or flashlight into a windowless closet, it illuminates the whole space. It becomes the means by which we see everything else. Jesus said that He is the Light of the world. The closer we draw to His light, the more clearly we see our own sin. If we are His followers, we carry His light within us. It’s not our light, but comes from His glory radiating through our lives.

So how do we let our lights shine? By being like Him. He was pure, so we should live purely, He was honest, so we should live honestly, He was kind, so we should show kindness, He did good everywhere He went, so we should leave people and places better than when we found them. The light of His truth reveals sin. What He hates, we should hate. What He loves, we should love. We were not given this light so that we could burn people, shine it on our own faces, or hide it. We also have no right to tamper with it, using it to do evil. Good deeds should be our calling cards. When people see our love, service, sacrifice, or generosity we want them to think, “They must know Jesus and if He’s anything like that, I want to know Him too.”

Final Thought:  How brightly is your light shining in this dark world?

Prayer: Father, I want you to search my heart and my life right now. Reveal to me the areas that are failing to reflect your light. Cleanse me and change me so that everywhere I go, your light illuminates the darkness. In Jesus’ name, Amen.