Living a joy-filled life is the best witnessing tool you have! You can serve food at a soup kitchen, pass out literature, sing in nursing homes, or volunteer at homeless shelters, and all those things are good to do, but if you do it with a frown on your face, you will draw an inaccurate picture of who Jesus is and will miss out on the real joy of serving. God wants you to be a living witness. How others see you live speaks louder than if you preached a three-hour sermon. Are you kind, considerate, and compassionate, or are you selfish, always looking out for number one? Are you striving for a higher position at work, willing to step on others to get ahead? Are you wanting recognition for your accomplishments? Do you seek attention so that others can see your good works? Looking out for number one is not living the example Christ gave when it comes to serving others. You can be certain of this: selfishness will only shine light on ‘you’ and it will prevent you from being a shining light for Christ. If you’re always seeking to be first, remember that at the foot of the cross, the ground is level. No one is lower or higher than you - except Jesus! The Bible tells us in Matthew 23:12, “For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Shining for Christ means that others can see Jesus in you! Serve with humility, grace, and love. God sees even the smallest act of kindness and He accepts these acts as if you were doing them for Him personally. Matthew 25:40 says, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” And Philippians 2:3-4 gives us this counsel: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” Text: Ephesians 5:8, Daniel 12:3, 2 Corinthians 4:6, Acts 13:47
Bible Texts:
Ephesians 5:8 KJV - For ye were sometimes darkness, but now [are ye] light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
Daniel 12:3 KJV - And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.
2 Corinthians 4:6 KJV - For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to [give] the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Acts 13:47 KJV - For so hath the Lord commanded us, [saying], I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.