Let Your Light Shine
By Ellen Green
In church this past Sunday, we saw a video recap of all of the community spirit, love, and acts of service offered by over seventy members of Christ Church for Big Serve Day on April 18. What a blessing to see such engagement, compassion, and care! At the end of the video, Pastor Jake noted that while this church-sponsored service activity was over, we all still have ongoing opportunities to serve our communities and even our own church body. He shared this encouragement that Jesus gave in the Sermon on the Mount:
“In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
What a timely word for all of us! Every day is an opportunity to be available to serve others.
So I asked myself about the ways that I can serve others, and also about the ways that my family and I have been loved and cared for by other believers. I’d love to share some of those thoughts with you.
The first service that comes to mind is prayer. Considering how much we know that we need prayer, I would definitely consider it a beautiful service!
Who can we pray for? We can pray for:
family members
our government
friends who are sick
teachers
expectant mothers
neighbors
military families
church staff
that person today who seemed sad, angry, or blue
Prayer is free! No special skills are required except a willing spirit! It is intimate expression between you and God. Let God’s Spirit direct you and give it a try!
Service opportunities abound at work as well. Someone told me recently that a coworker from his previous job told him that the office environment was dull and uninspiring in his absence. The friend said that the difference in culture “must be the God thing.”
The God thing? What could that be? While I have not worked in an office for some years, I can imagine it must be the thing you bring to the office each day. When you seek to be an active, physical, listening, praying, and caring person, “the God thing” leaks out in the way you perform your tasks, the way you lead, and the way you respond to problems and difficulties, as well as victories and achievements. All of these things lead me to believe that God does not separate “ministry” from “work.” Work is service. Work is ministry. Work shows your colleagues that God is real.
And school? The same ideas about work apply to students of all ages. Pray for our young ones to understand these truths early in their lives. Imagine all that God can do through them and for them. They are the future!
Finally, consider how we can serve our neighbors. Are there elderly people around you who need a meal, or some cookies, or someone to shovel their driveway? What about young moms who need a babysitter, or a cup of tea and a listening ear?
I know that we have had friends help us build a deck on the back of our first home, led by our favorite Irish-American carpenter. What a blessing that was when money was tight! Then those same friends raised the roof on another man’s house to build bedrooms for his beautiful growing family. I can tell you that those men had so much fun working together. Yes, they were exhausted. But I know they still drive by that house and say, “I remember when…”
I think we can all agree that there are many creative ways to let our light shine through service opportunities. May we encourage one another to love and good deeds as we actively look for ways to love one another. May we stand together to bring glory to God in the places where He has planted us.
Remember, all it takes is a willing spirit.