Letting Your Light Shine

By: Amy Marcle

Let us start this blog with a couple of bible verses.Matthew 5:15-16 ESV“Nor do people light a lamp and put it
under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 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.” These two verses always make me think
about how I am acting around others. I often question what kind of example am I
setting? When I am feeling down, anxious, or depressed, I tend to cover my
lamp. I do not let it shine the way I should. It is almost like somebody else
covers my light without my approval. I have to fight to uncover my light. I can do it; it just does not seem as easy as it used to be. We need to be careful though when we do let our light shine. We need to make sure that we are setting a good example because we want to glorify God. We do not need to shine our light to draw attention to ourselves to receive selfish recognition. When I am feeling depressed, I need others to help me uncover my light. I need their light to shine bright enough to cover us both. When my light is covered, it is very dark. It is a scary place that I cannot explain. I look at it as my head having several passages blocked by doors. When I open a door, I cannot tell if there is a light switch in the room or not until I go in and close the door. When I enter a dark
passage, it is hard for me to find my way back out. I need someone to shine
their light to help me get back to a lit room. I heard a phrase the other day that stuck with me. “A man’s only limit is his mind.” I have to push through the tough times, the dark times, to enjoy the good times. I have always said that if it were not for cloudy rainy days, we would not appreciate the sunny days. I often apply this to my mindset. If it were not for the bad days, or bad experiences in life, we would not appreciate the good days we have. I have to
look at it that way to help me find my light. I learn a lot by reading. One of the books I often reference is titled The Servant with One Talent: Five success
Principles from the Greatest Parable Ever Told by Michael Ivanov. It talks
about a certain man that was scared to take risks. He buried his talent instead
of investing it. He was afraid of losing what little he had. When I cover my
light, I cannot set a good example. I have to give my mind something new to
think about and believe in, and eventually my mind will believe this new thing.
If you tell yourself something long enough, you will start to believe it. I
have to fill my head with positive thoughts and cover the negative thoughts. Each of us will give an account of how we spent our time on this earth with the resources we were given. We have to ask ourselves, are we influencing our surroundings, or is our surroundings influencing us? Whomever you spend your precious hours with, you will imitate. We have to pay attention to what influences us and if an influence is bad, we need to change our surroundings. I cannot invest in my talents if they are buried. I love the quote from the above-mentioned book, “My buried talent does not lose value, but it does cost me time, and time is a heavy price to pay.”Time is the most precious thing we have. We all have the same amount of time in each day. We have to make sure that we do not squander life’s most precious gift of time. One way to let my light shine is to spend time with my family. Play games with them instead of sitting in silence staring into space. We enjoy watching Memphis Grizzlies basketball games together. We enjoy playing games together. We enjoy the outdoors together. Another way I can let my light shine is by helping others. There are a lot of simple things you can do to help others. You may help a stranger load their groceries or help them change a flat tire. Believe me, your family will notice when you help others. I can visit my family in the nursing home, I can visit the shut in from our church congregation. I can buy somebody’s dinner at the restaurant. There are endless ways to help others. Most of all I can pray for others instead of myself. I cannot live for yesterday. I cannot go back in time and light my light. I am giving up what time I have today by trying to worry about what happened yesterday or what may happen tomorrow. Think about that, can you go into the past and turn on a light? Can you go into the future and turn on a light? No, that would be impossible. I can only light my light today. Here are a few things I have to do to keep from falling into depression.1. I have to light my light first, so I do not enter the dark rooms in my head. 2. I have to speak positive things into my life and shun the negative.3. I need to continue going to see my counselor to help with lighting my light and keeping the dark rooms lit. 4. I have to pay attention to my surroundings and not let others’ negativity influence me. 5. I have to surround myself with good people that will help me by shining their light on me when I am in the dark. 6. I have to help others and pray for others. This will bring you more joy than you can imagine.

7. I have to be careful not to squander the most precious gift of time.

8. I have to show gratitude daily and keep a list of what I am thankful for.9. I have to keep a personal inventory and at the end of each day review if I could have done something different. Maybe treated someone a little better. 10. I have to pray for others and not myself.

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