Let Your Light Shine

Everyone has natural gifts. All followers of Jesus have both natural & spiritual gifts. Do you know yours? Do you use them for God & to bless others?

Let Your Light Shine

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

(Matthew 5:16)

Everyone has natural gifts, and all followers of Jesus have both natural and spiritual gifts. Many times, those two gifts are similar. There are many natural and spiritual gifts that I do not have. There is no need for me to complain to God or bemoan the fact that I cannot do certain things very well. A better approach is to recognize the gifts I have, both natural and spiritual, and use them for His glory.

Those who know me well know that I am not gifted at creating or repairing things. I do not follow directions very well, and oftentimes, my attempts at "helping" end up making matters worse, not better! But I will share with you a small victory I recently had in this area. I repaired our broken toilet last Saturday. It was a cause for celebration in our home! I was excited to tell my friend Daniel Fulenwider, who owns his own plumbing company, at church the next day about my heroic accomplishments. I know I am bragging a little, but if you just knew! But I think I will stick with the gifts and abilities God has given me and let the experts do what they do so well. (Hear some of Daniel's powerful testimony on Ep. 241 of our podcast.)

Let us talk about good deeds that we do in Jesus' name. When we use the gifts that God has given to us and serve others and go out of our way to help a hurting soul, it speaks volumes to a watching world. We are not saved by our good deeds. The only way a person can be born again is through the power of God. The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sins and shows us our need for Jesus who loved us so much that He died on the cross and arose from the dead. When we repent and believe in Him, He saves us. Titus 3:4-5 says, "But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit." The Apostle Paul clearly teaches we are saved by Jesus' good works, not by our own. We are saved by grace through faith, there is no doubt about that. Our eternal home in heaven is not by our works, but once we become followers of Jesus, then we get to work for Him! Ephesians 2:8-10 states, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

My friend Andy Spencer says the blessed life is when one can find out what they are good at, do it, get paid for it, and then help others using those gifts. I agree. Do you know what your natural and spiritual gifts are? Are you using them for God's glory and your good? It is indeed a blessed life when you can stay in your lane and do what God has designed you to do.

Over the weekend, let us commit to doing what Jesus told us to do in our biblical text for today. Let us make an intentional effort to let our light shine for Christ and allow people to see our good deeds. Let us engage in these good deeds, not to bring attention to us, but glory to our Savior who gave us everything that we have.

I am praying for you that God blesses you and makes you a blessing in someone's life today.