Sunday, September 20, 2015

Light of the World

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"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." Matthew 5:14-16

Have you ever met anyone who just instantly brings light into the room or you would use the phrase "a ray of sunshine" to describe them? I have met a few people like that and by a few I mean very few. Just speaking briefly to them you instantly feel encouraged. Just as it says above in verse 15 "they put it on a stand and it gives light to everyone in the house." Just their cheerful disposition affects everyone in the room.  "A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit." Proverbs 15:13. Some character qualities I have noticed that these people posess are compassion, kindness, patience, humbleness, gentleness, joy, basically all the fruits of the spirit. That's the power of Jesus, but sometimes if your like me we don't let Him shine that brightly through us. I've noticed the one I struggle with the most is compassion, so often I just don't think to call someone when they are sick or send them a card or send flowers to someone who has lost a loved one so I am definitely praying that the Lord will help me to be more compassionate towards others. It's not that I don't care I just never put that thought into action.  

I am also guilty of focusing on the negatives in life, often blaming others for the way I feel. When we we allow that darkness to creep in our life it dims our light. I have learned that if we truly love God we can't help but to love others,but I struggle with letting that show sometimes. I have figured out that the reason why I have this love for others on the inside, but don't always show it on the outside is because I had a very low self-esteem. I wasn't content with who I was. I  was very self conscious and that hindered me from expressing love to others for fear of rejection. There's a difference in being self-absorbed & being confident, but for the longest time I saw them one in the same. But really, by not being confident I was being self absorbed. I wouldn't show love or kindness to others at times when I could have because I was too worried about me and if I would make a fool of myself or not say the right thing. When we truly love who we are and who God created us to be then can we show love to others without fear of rejection. Sometimes too who we surround ourselves with affects are attitude. If you are constantly surrounded by people who always focus on the negative or always seem to have something bad to say about others those types of thoughts will infiltrate your mind as well. So it is important to surround ourselves with postive people. People who are going to support and encourage us & who we can support & encourage right back! 

On the lock screen of my phone the picture says, "Today I choose joy." I put that there becasue usually when I wake up in the morning I look at my phone to see what time it is. So, the first thing I see everyday is "Today I choose joy" and it serves as a reminder of how I am going to go about my day. Although Jesus lives,rules, & reigns in our hearts when we are saved we are still human & we still have free will. We can choose to have a negative attitude & negative thoughts or we can choose joy, happiness, & postive thoughts. God has so richly blessed me & I have no excuse for having a negative attitude.

I just hope and pray that the Lord will help me to be one of those people who just instantly brightens the room & can encourage others. Truett Cathy said, "How do you know if someone needs encouragement? If they are breathing." Everyone needs encouragement & love and it seems like the number of people who are willing to be the encourager is getting smaller and smaller. 


"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." 1 Thessalonians 5:11


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