Let Your Light Shine! || from the Country Times' Archives

    God has put on my heart to write about light this month. More specifically, about letting our lights shine. What are some ways we can let our light shine for Jesus?

    One big thing that may be often overlooked is the way we treat and serve our family. Treating those God has placed over us with respect and honor is a HUGE way to let your light shine, and is very important to God. As a matter of fact, it's one of the Ten Commandments: “Honor your father and your mother...” (Exodus 20:12a) It can be hard, especially if we don't always understand the reasons behind the rules they set in place for us. But every time we honor them and do what they ask, we will be blessed. (see Exodus 20:12b and Ephesians 6:1-3)
    Another way we can shine our lights within our own homes is the way we treat our siblings. Are we patient—“long-suffering”, or do we lose our temper and yell? Do we overlook offenses, or carry grudges? Are we careful with our our words and actions, or are we careless of others' feelings and hurts? (read 1 Corinthians 13—loving one another is an impactful way to shine our lights!)
    People will notice the way we treat our family. As daughters, we not only represent our earthly fathers, but also our heavenly Father. This is an important responsibility. How the world sees us is the light in which they'll see our fathers and our God. Do we dress modestly? Is our focus aimed on our inward beauty—a gentle and quiet spirit—or are we more concerned with our outward appearance and fitting in? Do we worry about expensive clothing or having our hair just so? (I'm not saying we shouldn't be neat and clean—that is very important, as well!) Read 1 Timothy 2:9-15. This passage gives great insight into ways we as girls and young women should let our lights shine, and it's something on which I personally need to work on. I love what 2 Timothy 2:22 says, “So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” (ESV)

    There are so many other ways we can shine our lights for Jesus—in our service (Ephesians 6:5-8), in loving our enemies and those who are ungrateful (Luke 6:35 ESV), seeing what needs to be done and doing it, visiting the elderly, caring for the poor, and the list goes on. God has given us His light, and so many opportunities to share it. We should make it a habit to ask Him to show us opportunities. He is faithful to be found by those who seek Him. (read Jeremiah 29:12-14)

    But can we really make a difference? Our light seems so small compared to all the dark in the world, doesn't it? But God isn't—1 John 4:4 reads, “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (ESV)

    I recently spotted a few little strands of spider web—the kind so small and of so few strands that I wonder how it could ever catch anything. But as I was looking, what do you know but that a ball of a wisp of seeds or some other web was borne up on the wind and...was caught in one of those tiny strands! It really amazed me how something so small could catch anything at all, let alone something of much greater size than itself.
    So it is with us. When we let Christ's light shine through our lives-even in the little things that we think no one will ever see-then we become part of something far greater than ourselves. Letting ourselves be used in a radical way by a God who loves us radically will cause radical effect, even if we don't see immediate results.

"Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity."

-1 Timothy 4:12

Blessings and in sisterly love,
Grace