Let your light shine

A Bible passage that I have read since a very young age many, many times is Matthew 5.  This is the chapter in which the Beatitudes are found.  This chapter also contains the famous verse which begins:

"Let your light so shine..." (Matthew 5:16)

Does this mean that we should accept ourselves as we are, or glory in our uniqueness as human beings, or somehow recognize it and tell others when we have finally done something, however small, that merits attention and recognition?  Does it mean that we should not be afraid to display our own good behavior, even take credit for it - and maybe not feel so bad about ourselves?  (Or conversely, hide our so-called light if we have done something wrong?)  I don't think so.

The light that is referred to as "your light" - a light we may possess in an unmerited way- is truly the light of Christ.  We are blessed to bear it, especially if we have been obedient and walked in our chosen good works.  But the larger point is that the light is truly objective.  It is a light that is burning, not from anything we have done or could ignite, but from what our Lord has done.  So don't feel that this is something that must be "accomplished" or "achieved."  It is bigger than us, brighter than us.  How blessed we are when it shines through us!