So I know a couple of y'all start school tomorrow. I do to. I'm not really looking forward to it. But one thing that I was thinking about today is how I wanted to improve myself from last year. The first thing that came to mind was Matthew 5; 13-16. I absolutely love this passage.
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.You are the light of the world. A city 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 men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
Ugh, I absolutely love that. I always come back to this verse whenever I'm in a funk or feeling let down. First off, I love how easily this shows we are called to be tools of God. We're not supposed to act well so people will look at us and say, "They are always nice." and then just leave it at that. We act to glorify God with our actions, not ourselves. And sometimes I have trouble with that. And I always come back to this verse. And so while you go back to school, I just want to encourage all of you with this. To go back, and for you to be the salt and the light of the Earth. To be set apart for a His will. To be different, not to bring attention to yourself, but to Christ. Remember, you are supposed to live in this world, but not of this world. Draw attention to yourself, and in that way, you will draw attention to the Lord.
I absolutely love those verses!!!! This post was a great reminder, thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that, that helped put some things into perspective. I've been so upset about school starting up and the summer ending that all I can think about is how much I'm going to hate being back at school. I have been focusing on the late nights all the homework and tests rather then all of the people I have a chance to influence. Thinking about going into the year with a purpose makes it sound a lot less terrible. We have such an opportunity and a privilege to understand what it takes to be lights to our classmates and now it's time o put this back into action. Every year I go into school saying this year will be different because I'm going to be dilligent and get my work done and study ahead of time. I have never said this year I am going to be different. I am going to dedicate my studying to the Lord and make good grades so I can have many opportunities to serve him and live the life he is calling me to.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post!
Joe this post is awesome. I love those verses as well, and they really are such a great reminder to be set apart for the glory of God!! I think we all are trying to do just that this year, be set apart an different for Christ's sake, and I pray that we all follow through. But we've got to start now so we don't lose our saltiness because, like the verse said, once it's gone, it's useless. So be the salt of your schools and let God shine his light through you. We are blessed enough to have a fresh start now, so don't waste it. Great post; I love it!
ReplyDelete-Alexa
Joe, that is such a great thing to keep in mind before school starts. I encourage you to go be that in your school, because you ARE the salt of the earth and you ARE part of that light of the world! You have a great perspective on seeing that we are here to please the Lord and not be "nice"or please please people. Keep it up stud!
ReplyDelete-Justin