Let Your Light Shine

Read

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

Think

All week we have been learning to love like Jesus. Love your enemies. Be kind to grumpy people. Stand up for the lonely. Welcome the outsider. It has been a big week of big love.

Now think about our memory verse for the month: “Let your light shine before others, so they may see your good deeds and give glory to your Father in heaven.”

Here is a question. When is your light the brightest? Is it when you are kind to your best friend? That is nice, but everybody does that. Your light shines the brightest when you love someone the world says you do not have to love.

Think about a dark room. If you light one small candle, it does not do much. But if you light that same candle in a really dark closet, wow, it lights up the whole space. The darker it is, the more the light stands out.

Meanness and bullying are like the dark. And when you choose to be kind right in the middle of that, your light shines super bright. People cannot help but notice. A kid who is kind to the unkind is like a candle in a dark closet. Everybody sees it.

And remember, the verse says the point of your light is not to make you look good. It is so people will look up and give glory to God. When you love someone hard to love, they might just wonder, where does that kindness come from? And you get to point them to God.

This is your purpose. You were designed for it. Not to hide in the safe little group, but to shine your light into the dark places where kids are lonely and hurting.

So go be a candle this week. Love the hard people. Shine bright. And let everyone see your good Father in heaven.

Apply

Shine in a dark spot – Find one place at school where there is meanness or loneliness, and bring kindness right into it. Let your light shine the brightest exactly where it is needed most.

Pray

God, thank you for teaching me to love like Jesus this week. Help my light shine the brightest when I am kind to people who are hard to love. I want everyone to see my good deeds and give glory to you. In Jesus' name. Amen.