Matthew
5:14-16
14 “You are the light of the world. A town
built on a hill cannot be hidden.
15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it
under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone
in the house. 16 In the same way, let
your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify
your Father in heaven."
So often we hide.
We hide our true selves.
We hide our circumstances.
We hide how we feel.
Sometimes, we hide due to fears.
Other times, we hide to escape judgment.
Sometimes people tell us to hide in some ways, by their words about what we may share.
Past situations can make us want to hide.
Whatever our reasons may be, we often hide. We could all fess up to hiding in one way or another, when we could have been a brighter light to the world around us. The person hiding could be the person who appears to have it all together at church on Sunday morning, and their life is actually a mess. It could be our neighbor, friend, or someone else. Nobody is exempted from the possibly of hiding themselves (or parts of themselves) even the ones who seem to have it all together. It is something that probably everyone has faced at one time or another. It is easy to put on a mask of who we want (or need) to be to others, and for a while--it works. However who we are will still remain, and our testimonies will not shine as bright. We are in costume and not letting ourselves be used by God to help others. In 2 Corinthians, we are told that we are to comfort others in difficult times just as we have been comforted. We have to be willing to share, in order to experience comfort from our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. We have to share to give comfort.
I wrote about hiding, because God is showing me today that it can make our light less bright to the world. We may think "it doesn't matter or even affect my relationship with Christ", but God wants to use our whole testimony without us hiding parts of it, by not sharing how He is working in us. Hiding parts of us or our lives affects our walk with Christ. It affects our relationships. It affects us as individuals. We can lie and say we are okay, but it affects us still the same whether we admit it or not. I know all too well how easy it is to stay in hiding and ignore the brighter testimony I could be sharing.
So often we hide.
We hide our true selves.
We hide our circumstances.
We hide how we feel.
Sometimes, we hide due to fears.
Other times, we hide to escape judgment.
Sometimes people tell us to hide in some ways, by their words about what we may share.
Past situations can make us want to hide.
Whatever our reasons may be, we often hide. We could all fess up to hiding in one way or another, when we could have been a brighter light to the world around us. The person hiding could be the person who appears to have it all together at church on Sunday morning, and their life is actually a mess. It could be our neighbor, friend, or someone else. Nobody is exempted from the possibly of hiding themselves (or parts of themselves) even the ones who seem to have it all together. It is something that probably everyone has faced at one time or another. It is easy to put on a mask of who we want (or need) to be to others, and for a while--it works. However who we are will still remain, and our testimonies will not shine as bright. We are in costume and not letting ourselves be used by God to help others. In 2 Corinthians, we are told that we are to comfort others in difficult times just as we have been comforted. We have to be willing to share, in order to experience comfort from our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. We have to share to give comfort.
I wrote about hiding, because God is showing me today that it can make our light less bright to the world. We may think "it doesn't matter or even affect my relationship with Christ", but God wants to use our whole testimony without us hiding parts of it, by not sharing how He is working in us. Hiding parts of us or our lives affects our walk with Christ. It affects our relationships. It affects us as individuals. We can lie and say we are okay, but it affects us still the same whether we admit it or not. I know all too well how easy it is to stay in hiding and ignore the brighter testimony I could be sharing.
Let
me explain a little bit about my own mask: I have two noticible ones that I can see right on the spot. The first is how God is freeing me from the sin of gluttony. Gluttony is a sin that isn't talked about much in the Church. It is a vital testimony that is worthy of sharing, even if others do not see it as such.
The second one is this: I have two facebook accounts to
"hide" part of my life on one facebook. In some ways, it is to hide parts of my life. IE) Find another outlet to help me as I deal with chronic illnesses. The second facebook has really become an outlet. However, I risk putting on a mask by not talking about those things out of fear, anxiety, and judgments. In a lot of ways, it is easier and safer to talk about certain things like this on one particular
account. It is this process that is showing me I need to find a way to balance my life. How can I be real on both? So in a sense, my problem is learning how to
let that brighter light shine wherever I go. It is a matter of
balancing who I am and how I approach the world. It doesn't matter how we
"cope" with our mask. A mask is still a mask. Our light could be
brighter. In some ways, having two accounts has freed me in sharing my
testimony in a brighter way for one, but has dimmed it for the other. I am
learning how to blend those two aspects of my life into one. It is a matter of
giving everything over to the Lord and allowing my light to shine brighter as I
come out of hiding. The question to be asked is: What hinders us from
shining brighter for Christ?
We need to evaluate ourselves and see how we are living and sharing our testimony. Are we hiding our light? Is God doing something in our lives that we are unwilling to boldly share? Sharing our testimony allows God to use us to teach, encourage, and minister to others. He also teaches and ministers to us. It is when we know the reason of why we hide that we can begin to open ourselves up to begin to be a brighter light to the world with our whole testimony showing.
Part two::How are we able to share our testimony and shine for Him if we are hiding?
We need to evaluate ourselves and see how we are living and sharing our testimony. Are we hiding our light? Is God doing something in our lives that we are unwilling to boldly share? Sharing our testimony allows God to use us to teach, encourage, and minister to others. He also teaches and ministers to us. It is when we know the reason of why we hide that we can begin to open ourselves up to begin to be a brighter light to the world with our whole testimony showing.
Part two::How are we able to share our testimony and shine for Him if we are hiding?
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