Let your light so shine before others, so that may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 5:16
Have you seen, heard, and experienced it, particularly over the past three years—ever-expanding, like a growing mold? Apathetic indifference (at best) and narcissistic malice (at worst). In the workplace and marketplace, on campus and online. Human interactions are not what they used to be. (I’m not talking 50 years ago, mind you, just five.)
Millions of words could be written on all the “whys” of this apathy/meanness phenomenon—and they have been. So, this is not about that. What we’re going to focus on here is our call as followers of Jesus Christ to be different. In a world that’s getting darker as Satan’s time gets shorter, believers are meant to be light (Matthew 5:14-16; Ephesians 5:8; Philippians 2:15-16). What does that mean? According to Galatians 5:22-23, walking in light and truth means living a fruity life—in the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Pretty much the exact opposite of today’s cultural norm.
But, friend, of course it’s different from the world! Only through the power of the Holy Spirit in us can we exhibit these holy qualities—in our own power, it’s really, really hard. And to be honest, there’s usually some self-serving motivation behind it when we do. Again, another story.
So, let’s get practical. First, pick a fruit, any fruit. Then, with a yielded spirit, just do it. Not only will this simple surrender open the way to more and more Holy Spirit control in your life for your good, it will also glorify God in a big way. And it will be blindingly bright amid the darkness around you. Plus, just as flipping on the light switch in the middle of the night tends to wake someone up from a deep sleep, so can shining your light open the eyes of the walking-dead around you…opening up an opportunity for you to give a reason for your fruitiness (1 Peter 3:15).
Take kindness, for example. It always surprises me what a shock it is to others when they experience even a modicum of kindness. The other day, as my husband was returning our shopping cart to the parking lot corral, he happened to collect a few others on the way, clearing them from the various “I’ll-just-leave-mine-here” drop-offs. As he walked back to our car, the man next to us was watching him with an awe that rivaled him witnessing a rescue from a burning building. Then he said to my husband, “Man, the world needs more kind people like you.” Boom. Light on, difference made. Now, my hubby didn’t approach that guy and take him through the gospel in that moment…but he let his light shine and glorified God in the process, and who knows how it may have changed that man’s attitude/actions the rest of the day.
I have a lot of examples of this around each of the fruit—as I’m confident you do as well. (I also, sadly, have plenty of examples of exhibiting the opposite of some of those fruits, which only showed my “unsurrendered”/fleshy parts. But we’re all on that sanctification path on our way to glorified perfection—as long as we’re moving in the right direction, it’s all good!) So, let’s use each moment of living out this holy fruit like it’s a good workout: with repetition comes strength to do more. Again, it’s not our own strength we’re developing here though, it’s the strength (control) of the Holy Spirit that we are yielding to. One act of kindness may seem as insignificant as the small flicker of a match. But in a pitch-black room, even that tiny flame can show the way out of the darkness.
Lord, I surrender fully to You today. Show me opportunities to let my light shine in this dark world. And let me yield to the Holy Spirit to empower the words and actions needed to glorify You.
encouraged by grace 