You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16 NIV
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. John 8:12 NIV
"Show your light!"
M will often say this to us when anyone leaves. We said it a few times previously but M picked it up and ran with it. I love that "Show your light" has become our family's saying, thanks to M. To us it means show Jesus to others, be loving and kind with your actions and words. I remind M of this meaning sometimes, to make sure he understands what he's saying and how important it is.
Oh, how much is light needed in this world full of darkness! Everywhere you look there are incredibly sad, anger-inducing things happening in the world, to our friends, and even in our hearts. But there's hope! Jesus' light shines bright in the darkness, breaking through.
How will Jesus’ light come through you? Will you help protect others from danger like a lighthouse? Will you encourage and warm souls like a campfire? Will your light bring hope and warmth during a multi-day power outage caused by a blizzard? Will your actions bring complete change like a candle’s light in a pitch dark room? Will your light help spark and ignite other’s lights? Will it shine to make things less scary or provide wisdom to help guide someone’s path? Will it bring joy like fireworks? Will Jesus’ light, shining through you, bring beauty, warmth, and growth like the sun? Will it be unstoppable like a wildfire? Will it be like the soft glow of a firefly?
God is in the storm and in the whisper.
From Matthew 5 and John 8:12 I get the idea that we partner with Jesus in this endeavor to show the light. He is the light of the world and we are called to be that too.
Showing our light means being different from the culture. Have empathy with those that are broken-hearted. Be by their side and lift them up when appropriate and possible. Do good. Realize our reward is in heaven. Make staying in the Word and praying our top priorities. Be loving and kind to everyone we see. Make it a challenge- how can we show love to someone today? Don't let a day pass without shining and pointing others to Jesus through our actions. Do not assimilate to or isolate from the culture. Show them Jesus. Know that our true home is not here. Does that mean tearing down boundaries so the people who hurt us can be shown Jesus' love? Does it mean stepping down from being so involved with a political party, hobby, or group that is taking over your soul? What if the light from your hill is what will help others see Jesus? Don't hide it, don't let them miss it by not giving them the chance to see it in the first place. Even the tiniest light can completely change a dark situation.
How can I teach these things more to my kids who are 4 and 1? I can model the behavior for my sons like Jesus modeled it for all of us. My husband and I model showing the light by trying our best to love God, family, neighbors, and our world better. When we’re driving and we give bags of socks, bottled water, stamped postcard, etc. to the homeless we ask for the person’s name and pray for them as we continue on (the stoplight doesn’t stay red for long) we are showing our kids that these human beings are worthy of being seen and not completely ignored. Every day is a new chance to show more love. Our kids partner with us when helping our community when we see a need, they see us leading at church to help us and others become more like Christ, they hear about our small group zoom meetings after they wake up, they wait while we read the Bible in the morning, they hear about us loving and serving at our jobs.
See the light shine, M.
The more we dive into our relationship with God the more the kids see it and have the chance of being affected by it. Even if it seems like our boys are not even listening or capable of understanding yet - it’s not our job to change their hearts. It is our job to provide the fish and the loaves - for Jesus to use what we provide. He does the heavy lifting.
When we notice an opportunity we try to remind them of the light that can break through darkness. When we read Bible stories we try to relate what’s happening in their life to the lesson of the story. With that foundation of Truth in their heads and on our hearts dark can be conquered. For example, when they feel sadness about someone being hurt or sick or they don’t share toys well and lash out in frustration we can help train them to act in a way that they may not see others doing. We can remind them of what Jesus did and does. Let your light shine, M, by showing compassion and using kind words. By encouraging yourself and others that the light can help anything and everything. By helping guide yourself and others back to the more loving way of doing things. We all need help sometimes. We all need Jesus all the time. And what’s next? Do it all over again. And again. Don’t grow weary of doing good.
Let the light shine, M. Even in your 4-year-old way.
They see times when their dad and I are not compassionate, when we ignore, when we discourage and make mistakes. When we don’t take a deep breath and count to 4. They see when we don’t love and when we don’t serve. When we don’t say “Yes” to what God has in store for us. In those moments we are not showing our light and we are prime examples of being fallen people. When we realize that this is happening we apologize and try to use it as another opportunity to point to the fact that we all need Jesus' way back to God, our Heavenly Father's faithfulness to us as we struggle through, and the Holy Spirit directing our steps.
Let the light shine through us too.
May you have courage and endurance to feed the light inside you by reading the Bible, praying, and connecting with others. Be refreshed by Jesus and may His light feed your soul. May that light inside you shine onto your face and the faces of all who see you. May God be glorified by your actions. May the Son's light shine bright wherever and however it's shown and may we realize that we can do no Christ-exalting good thing apart from God.