Let Your Light Shine
Hide it under a bushel—NO! I’m gonna let it shine
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In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 5:16 (ESV)
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Surprisingly, I find this verse hard to follow.
To me, letting my light shine feels too close to pride & arrogance.
Of course my feelings don’t matter so much as the truth. So, let me think aloud for a bit:
Good works that glorify God must start with God, namely, the Holy Spirit.
If these works start with me, then they’re coated in the mess of sin and they, in fact, would be loaded with pride & arrogance. But if they begin with the Spirit (perhaps some fruit of the Spirit?), then they would naturally bring glory to God.
Easier said than done.
I suspect there’s a lot more active work I can do to put myself in a position to be used by the Spirit for these good works.
Such as:
* Centering myself on God each day by spending time in the Word and in prayer.
* Memorizing verses so they’re always available for the Spirit to use.
* Building relationships with people so they have opportunities to be blessed by God through me.
If you’ve ever seen The Navigators’ Wheel Illustration, then these are all actions that make up the spokes of the wheel.
There’s a lifetime of work in this verse, but it’s a fun adventure when God is the director.
— Ricky Ketchum
Copyright © 2025 by Ricky Ketchum. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication prohibited.
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