Let Your Light Shine

In Luke 18, Jesus tells us a story of someone who lights a lamp and then hides it under a jar of clay. Who would turn on a light just to cover it up? Jesus uses the idea of “light” to represent His presence, His love, and His grace. As His followers, it’s our responsibility to share that light with the world!

While turning on a light might feel like an automatic response, it takes intention. Sharing the light of Jesus works the same way!

First, we need to 𝘱𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. Why do we turn on a light? Because we look around and realize that it’s too dark for us to see! If we aren’t paying attention, we won't notice the dark.

Secondly, we need to make the 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, to reflect and share the love of Jesus in our lives. We need to put away the distractions and turn the light on! Sometimes that means we need to get out of our comfort zone and overcome obstacles. But we are not alone in this. We have our church family and our personal Savior to rely on! It takes courage, but the reward of seeing others experience the saving grace of Jesus is worth it!

The next step is what Jesus is talking about in Luke chapter 18. The problem isn’t turning the light on, but 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 it on! We need to resist the urge to stash it away or hide it under the covers.

But why is there all this pressure and anxiety associated with sharing the love of Jesus?

𝗟𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗸. Have you ever been in a dark room and someone turns the light on? People groan and complain because they're comfortable sitting in the darkness.

𝗟𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀. Darkness is the perfect place for hiding things. But when the light of Jesus shines, it reveals the brokenness and pain that we’ve all learned to live with, the things we hide away because we’re afraid they make us unlovable. That kind of exposure can be shameful and painful, but Jesus never shined with shame, he shone to help people find a way out.

When we let the love of Jesus shine through us, it’s easy to give in to the darkness of the world. But it's not about us, it's about bringing others to Jesus and glory to God!

Matthew 5:16: “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”