Who gets the glory from your good works?

Goood afternoon family of forever!

Bible verse of the day blew me away!

“In the same way,
let your light shine
before men, so that
they may see your good works
and give glory
to your Father in heaven.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5:16‬ ‭

Let's break it down:
“In the same way,"

-As a light bulb turned on in a dark room is visible so your light will be visible compared to the darkness of this world.  You'll stick out if you're light in darkness.  People who don't know God, who live in darkness just as you once did (Eph. 5:8), will see something noticeably different about you because you have light.  But it doesn't stop there...

"let your light shine"

-We have light, but we can stifle it too.  If you put a box over a light bulb turned on it will not be as bright.  It can be muffled.  Covered by a box that we put over it if we are ashamed of it, scared of it, or feel unready to share it.  We have the ability to box in our light, usually a defense mechanism if you're not ready for what the light will do to your life.  One thing is certain, the light changes EVERYTHING.  When you step into a room that's pitch black you see nothing, but when you turn on a bright light...you see EVERYTHING: good and bad.  So to let your shine is to let the truth about who you are be made known to the world: your brokenness as well as your good transformations.

"before men, so that"

-Revealing our good and bad is one thing, but allowing others to see our worst features can feel too vulnerable.  People are watching and observing and thinking things all the time.  We show up in full light, exposing the truth about ourselves (and consequently about God), then they will be there to give their opinion.  But we do this SO THAT...

"they may see your good works"

-we have good and bad being revealed. But the point is to show our good (but not without hiding our bad).  The reason we need both is because anyone can do good.  Morality is formulaic in the sense that we all love the superheroes and the rescue team.  They are morally noble because of their good works to do good.  People admire the sacrifice of Schindler who saved many Jews during the Holocaust, or single mothers who work hard to make sure their kids do well--that's because Good Works are good works, but not all "good works" point to God.   Some good works point to the person doing the good work.  It's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just the reality of a good work.  It brings praise.  So what kinds of good works are we called to do with our light?

"and give glory"

-Our good works guide our light.  We can do good to shine our light on our self, or we can do good works to shine our light somewhere else.  But good works always elicit praise.  We see a good work and we think "wow" or "awww" toward wherever that good work points.  But regardless, the principle to remember is that not every good work points glory in the same direction.

"to your Father in heaven.”

-The only way that our good works point upward in the direction of glorifying God is by our allowing the worst self to remain exposed as well.  To not filter the truth.  To not hide or try to cover our mess.  By not hiding the bad while showing the good it helps direct praise from men to give glory to the One responsible for any good they see in us.  Otherwise if all we try to show is our good the direction of glory will point to ourselves.  We get glory from men who see how good we are.  We get their praise, their admiration, and their affirmation/approval.  But the more we reveal our worst to people the more our best transformations point to God getting the glory for every change that people see.  They will know by our worst that it was God who was responsible for turning this into that.  The less we become the more He becomes.  A true disciple of Jesus lives to let their light shine before men so that the praise it elicits is ONLY directed toward God.  We help others see God by our light.

Because the truth is no one is good apart from God who gave us His good.  That's what having light shows.

Who will get glory today by your good works?

Whatever you do, do it for people to praise God.  We are all beggars in this life pointing to the one who has all the bread.  Be free in the truth.

Love you guys.
Jmegrey
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