In Matthew 5:16, Jesus commands us, saying, "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" (ESV). Letting your light shine can often sound foreign, and many people attach different meanings to the phrase.
But one thing is for certain: letting your light shine has nothing to do with showing off. There seems to be a fine line in between both, but do understand that the two are not the same. We can let our light shine before others without coming off as arrogant showboats.
The time I first felt on fire for God and a light to others was when I was a teenager. I was so in love with God and felt so much sincerity and determination to win as many people over to Christ as I could. But my understanding of 'being a light' was that I always had to appear holy and righteous and show people that that's how I lived.
It didn't take long for my strategy to backfire, and what I thought would actually bridge people to Christ actually shut the door and bolted it tight. Because I was coming off as holier than thou to others, no one wanted to talk to me about faith. Was my heart in the wrong place? No. I was sincere in wanting to win people to Christ, but I was also sincerely wrong in the methodology of doing so.
An interesting thing we need to understand about the light is that people draw near to it naturally. Imagine you're in a pitch black stadium and there's one light bulb shining all across the huge expanse. Chances are everyone will gravitate towards the light. In the same way, God calls us to be that light that people gravitate towards. What do people gravitate towards?
People don't naturally gravitate towards a holy life put on a pedestal for the world to see. People actually like to gravitate towards something that is within reach. In the same way, Jesus was someone whom people could gravitate towards naturally because He came as a humble servant, loving, healing and liberating people as a man, not as an angelic force, king, emperor or mighty soldier.
People gravitate towards humility coupled with a heart that truly loves and gives. When we are in Christ, we are enabled to be that exactly as He secures us in His identity and then fills us with love overflowing so that we now can let that overflow fall on the lives of other people.
Our light is not our self-righteousness, nice cars and houses and perfection. No one gravitates to a perfect person because we know that doesn't exist apart from the person of Christ. People want to see your humility and love. That's what shines as a light to this dark world.
