Night Light part 4
Being nice, being kind, loving people, is how you let your light shine. And when you do that the darkness flees. Because what the world needs is love. And God is love. God is light. Letting the light shine is letting the love shine. The love of God. The "laying your life down for your friends," giving everything you have and everything you are, love of God manifest in you and through you and as you. That's what the light is all about. And when that happens, I'm telling you, love is all powerful. Not MOST powerful, but ALL powerful. Not there is power elsewhere, but that love has all the power. Love IS all the power. Do you know why nothing can stand against the love of Christ? Do you know why love never fails? Because love is THE power. Love is the way, the truth, and the life. Love is what shines in our hearts, and out of hearts, in order to illuminate things. So that we can see things clearly. So that we can see God clearly, and see each other clearly. So that we can relate to God correctly, and relate to each other correctly. And by correctly I mean letting God love the hell out of us, and loving each other with that same love. Seeing God as Father. Seeing ourselves as His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. And seeing each other as different parts of the same body. Seeing each other not as enemies, but as friends. Understanding that we "destroy" our enemies by MAKING them our friends. When the light shines the darkness flees. I'm trying to say that there is nothing but goodness (GODness) that comes out of reaching out to people. And here's the tricky part: Sometimes your light shines into the darkness... and the darkness sneers at it. Let me say it like this, "And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not" (John 1:5). Which is to say, sometimes you will pour your love into someone and it will seem like they just don't care. I always say "Kill 'em with kindness" but sometimes there are people you just can't reach. Like I said, tricky. But that doesn't mean you stop shining your light. I believe (well, maybe I HOPE. I don't want to get those two confused) that there will come a time when we realize, and understand, that God is light... and as He is, so are we in this world. That Jesus is the light of the world... and WE are the light of the world. That our light never turns off. It shines all of the time. Like that all-important night light. If that things flickers, or worse yet dies... trouble. But our light CAN'T die. God is light. I already said that. And in Him there is no darkness at all. So in US there is no darkness at all. Even when it might feel like it. Even when things pile up on us and its hard to see the light. It shines, and shines, and never stops shining. God loves, and loves, and never stops loving. Love never fails because love endures. Love never gives up. God showed it on the cross when He proved that He would rather die than live without us... by dying. So that we might live. He shined His light as bright as possible so that we might know what our light is capable of. So that we might love each other as He loves us. So that we might see things clearly. See who we really are... and be who we really are. We are the light. And the light shines. We are love. And we love!