***Argh! Blogger is not posting the spaces that I originally included in my posts. Sorry for the inconvenience while I try to figure out what the problem is.
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"Let your light shine before men,
that they may see your good works,
and glorify your Father which is in heaven."
Matthew 5:16
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The girls and I were discussing this verse this morning while reading So Much More by Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin. The objective of our lights should be to bring glory to our Father. We are admonished in the verse before not to hide our light under a bushel. Still further before this verse, it says we are the light of the world and a city on a hill cannot be hidden. Many people struggle with this. They are worried about offending others and making them uncomfortable. Especially these days, when it is considered "intolerant" to hold the standard Christian views. Most Christians are aware of how the cry for tolerance is often a double standard because everything but Christianity is tolerated, therefore, many in our day tiptoe around fearful of incurring the wrath of our society.
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But I began thinking of this verse from a little different perspective. I was not born with a personality that overly concerns itself over offending others. I was raised with a certain Yankee pride in a side of my family in being a quick-witted in-your-face type of person. Always having the comeback that left someone speechless was admired. I still remember some of my "greatest moments" when I stumped some other equally (or even more) quick-witted people. They have been trophies in my mind, even taken down and polished from time to time.
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Instead of being tempted to hide my light under a bushel, I can be more like Mr. Potts' two-million-candle-power spotlight shining right in your face. Trust me, it's hot. It doesn't feel good. And it's blinding. At least when you are in the dark, your eyes have a chance of adjusting to the darkness and you are able to recognize a light off in the distance and you know which way to go. When you have a spotlight shining in your face, nothing can remedy the situation. You try to shut your eyes as tightly as possible but even that doesn't bring relief. You start screaming for it to stop. You prefer remaining in the darkness.
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Here's a quote from So Much More:
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"...though God looks primarily on the inside, people can only see the outside. Is God's grace capable of turning rebellious, defiant heart into a gentle and quiet heart? Do we show people the magnitude of God's grace by showing how our crude, unrefined behavior becomes gentle and quiet? Or do we give the world a reason to think that God is limited in His power because He was unable to make our behavior (and so, of course, our hearts) conformed to His model for womanhood? We blaspheme God's grace by continuing to act like "ourselves". We glorify God's grace by overcoming stubborn pride and becoming gradually sanctified."
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It's hard to let your 'self' be changed. We love ourselves and are afraid to part with something that seems to be so much a part of us. What will we be without it? Will we be dull and lifeless? Jesus promised something more:
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"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies,
it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit."
John 12:24
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I've been praying for God to help me be a soft, cozy kind of light. When I walk over our hill at night and see the house softly lit, I get a warm feeling of home. I stand back and admire it from afar. I am not afraid to draw near. I know inside is safe and warm. That is the kind of light I want to be.
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