Shine
“You’re amazing,” I told her in no uncertain terms. This friend who is sensitive and beautiful, gifted and gleaming, considered my words carefully. Our once-steaming mugs of cafe au lait were lukewarm after an hour of quiet sharing. Her eyes lowered to the leftover liquid in her cup with sadness on her face. “I’m not sure it’s okay to believe that.” My heart sank. Not just because of the bleakness in her voice, but because I am familiar with this feeling.
Is it okay to believe you are beautiful?
Yes.
Yes!
Why don’t we? Is it false humility ? Because we are afraid of attracting attention from others? Because we do not know? Yes. It is all of these things, and it is not okay.
Some of us do not shine because we were told that our light was too bright, that we were too much to manage. Or we were told that our luminance outshone the lights in others. So we covered ourselves and buried our lanterns inside, where no one would criticize our brightness. We thought we would be loved if we shone less. But we weren’t.
No one is ever loved more by becoming less.
Your light is your gift from God. Embracing it means living life as colorfully as possible. Why would you hide your lambency to make others more comfortable? We must steward this brilliance with diligence. We cannot bury it in the dirt because of fear. Like flowers we must open to release our most extravagant beauty.
Ask God to help you let your light shine. We all need it to help light our way. And when you do, you will enable others to do the same.
Let it shine.
Matthew 5:14-16 ~” ‘You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 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. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.’ “
Hebrews 1:3 ~”The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.”
Community of Light
Radiance of his Glory
18 Comments
We are all beautiful in God’s eyes. We don’t all have the same talents, but we all have something that shows His beauty. We may not think so, but when we encourage each other, we let others know how important they are to us. That is beauty.
Beautifully written! Thank you for the encouragement sis. You shine!
Beautiful.. And words that I needed to hear. Sometimes we just need to be reminded.I do love and appreciate you.
No one is ever loved more by becoming less.”
That’s bullets right there.
[…] Just nothing less than amazing in this post […]
*tears* Yes.
I believe it’s God in us Who makes us beautiful…He truly does come to live in our hearts when we believe in His Son Jesus. Sadly, there is still some ugly in me, but it’s of the old nature. “He must increase, but I must decrease.” as said by John the Baptist in John 3:30. (Found you today via Ann’s link) I appreciate this post especially because I like to be reminded that God does delight in us, His children…I tend to forget that. Thanks for sharing this! Love & prayers, in Jesus, Cynthia
This resonates with me. I have been your friend. I believe nearly everyone has been your friend. And so, thank you for the words of encouragement, Spirit through you.
Thank you for sharing your insights – they are amazing! You have reminded me that I AM beautiful, as the daughter of the King. Today, I will work at letting His light shine out through me. Thanks so much for sharing with us.
THANK YOU………….for sharing the ‘beauty’!
Eileen
So beautiful! Thankyou:)
Your words are stirring something deep inside of me today. Thank you for sharing.
Light-bearers….we are light-bearers. Thank you for reminding me…and giving me courage to shine my light.
this is exactly what my soul needed to hear this day.
Lord, help us embrace ourselves with Your Love like we do for others, allowing YOU to shine through — in each of us different; the way you prepared in advance for us to go 😀
I hope she believed you.
Blessings.
Thank you for letting your light shine.
Thank you Shauna. Your blog is beautiful.
My heart aches for those who should and don’t. I can only imagine how God would see that HIS gift would be hidden under a bushel. Let’s not have this happen to us. This world needs HIS LIGHT.