I am immediately reminded of being humble and not going good deeds so that others will see… Surely this is a contradiction? Not at all! There are 2 motives for letting your good deeds “shine out for all to see”. Firstly some people like attention. They like others to admire them, to be impressed and to talk about them. They like to project an image of themselves to others that creates a picture of perfection etc.
The other motive to “shine” is to Glorify God. Looking straight away at this short passage, it is obviously not saying, “Shine your light so you will look good and others will talk about you and envy you”!! It is saying that any good deeds you do, give all the Glory
to God. Doing the things he requests of us, humbly, without grumbling is a perfect way to shine. What would Jesus do can be applied to our actions each and every time. By doing that we don’t need to announce in a loud voice what we have done, as our actions and they way we go about things is so much more a better witness to those looking on. When people see a Christian really living for the Lord, they can see that its the Lord at work, and He gets the Glory.
An example of issues I have had to work on myself include speeding and gossip!! For speeding I placed a fish symbol in the back of my car, and I now have a responsibility to ensure I obey the law ensuring I stick to the correct speed limits, and gracious and safe. For gossip my WWJD band even reminds me of “what would Jesus say”, and I have found that if you think that there is something that you are unsure is right to say as it could be gossip or upsetting, then hold your tongue!
I pray the Lord will strengthen us in all the areas of our lifes that we struggle with, and will enable us to shine in everything we do giving Him the glory. Amen
