Choose to Be a Luminary

Matthew 5:16 (TPT) So don’t hide your light!  Let it shine brightly before others, so that the commendable things you do will shine as light upon them, and then they will give their praise to your Father in heaven.”

Having spent nearly a decade and a half in ministry, one of the travesties I’ve seen over and over is people believing they are less than they are. When I look at them, I see a lion, but when they look in the mirror they believe they’re seeing just a kitten – powerless and ineffectual. I’m not sure why we all seem to have an inclination to believe the worst of ourselves and the the truth is hard to receive, but it seems to be the case. 

And yet in truth though we may believe the worst, on some level we HOPE that we are wrong. We HOPE that we truly are powerful and able to make a difference. What we fear is failing in that capacity. So we unconsciously come into agreement with the lies we’ve been told about ourselves (or had reflected to us), and decide to live smaller than our call. Thinking somehow this is safer. And yet, doing so leaves us feeling unfulfilled and robs the world of the blessing we are meant to be.

A quote from Marianne Williamson’s “A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of ‘A Course in Miracles’” speaks to this.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

We must choose to be luminaries. Choose to shine unashamed and without holding back. As we walk in our true identity of children of the Light, we lead the way for others to do the same. And through that we are able to spur one another on to be our best selves. And isn’t that truly what the Body of Christ is called to do? 

This then becomes a powerful witness to the world – as we walk boldly in our authentic selves, in unity with our brothers and sisters. That is a beautiful Kingdom – the Kingdom of God in evidence. What a glorious way to give honor to our King.

1 Thessalonians 5:5 (VOICE) For you are all children of light. You are sons and daughters of the day. We are not created of night, nor are we owned by darkness.

Matthew 5:14-16 (VOICE) And you, beloved, are the light of the world. A city built on a hilltop cannot be hidden. Similarly it would be silly to light a lamp and then hide it under a bowl. When someone lights a lamp, she puts it on a table or a desk or a chair, and the light illumines the entire house. You are like that illuminating light. Let your light shine everywhere you go, that you may illumine creation, so men and women everywhere may see your good actions, may see creation at its fullest, may see your devotion to Me , and may turn and praise your Father in heaven because of it .