A common belief in today’s society is that a person’s faith should be a private matter. A matter that is “inappropriate” or even “offensive” to discuss in public.

For many years, I too held this belief. I remember feeling like talking about my faith would put a target on my back or put my life under a microscope. I was afraid that someone would ask me a question I could not answer or, worse, confront me about an area of my life that wasn’t very Christ-like, (and over the years there have been plenty of areas where I have fallen, and still fall, short of God’s design).

Like verse 15 of Matthew 5, I took the light that God gave me on the day of my salvation, and I hid it, not just under a basket or a bowl as the verse indicates, but under a bowl, in a cabinet, in a room where I pretty much kept the door shut all the time. For a decade or so, my language was often not Christ-like, nor was my quest for self-advancement. My attitude frequently swung between “gun-ho, go-getter” bulldozing anyone or anything that didn’t fit in my plans and a “Debbie Downer” who didn’t believe that anyone was up to the task ahead of us, who doubted everyone’s abilities and intentions, and spent weeks wondering what the point of even trying was before swinging back to taking on problems single-handedly and complaining about people who weren’t up to it or wouldn’t help. This darkness of attitude interfered with my professional relationships and my personal relationships.

Looking back, I kept my light hidden because I wasn’t living in fellowship with God or with other believers. I wasn’t in the Word and so I didn’t realize that God had a solution to every problem that I faced, real problems as well as those I imagined. I didn’t know how to change, but I knew anyone who heard me talking about God would expect to see certain attitudes and traits that I did not possess; I didn’t want to be seen as a hypocrite, but I also didn’t want to change my behaviors or attitude either because I didn’t see the personal benefit in it.

Looking back, I’m just so very grateful that God never gave up on me –

that He kept putting people in my life who would remind me of the peace and joy that comes from walking with Him, that He molded and shaped my professional path, and my husband’s too, to bring us back to our homeplace and back into church. Words cannot express the wonder that I feel when I think of that little light inside me that held on year after year despite my utter neglect. You see, though I had removed much of the oxygen from the room with my attitude, God was still fueling the fire.

Now, that little flame feels at times like a conflagration, a desire to share His love and His message that I cannot control; it spills forth from my lips in conversation before I even realize that the conversation had an opening to share His peace or wisdom or comfort. This would have terrified me in the past, but now the target I feel on my back is much smaller because I know that I am living more in accordance with His will, but more importantly,

Sweet friends, if the telling of my past resonates with you, if, like the old me, you keep your light to yourself, I encourage you today to go to that locked room where you’ve hidden the light that you were given and bring it out from under the basket; feed it with God’s Word, fan it with His promises, allow other believers to stoke the flame through Godly fellowship. God doesn’t desire us to hide. Instead Christ referred to us as a “city on a hill” and teaches us to let our light shine before men that they may see our good deeds and praise our Father in Heaven. I’ve come to realize that they can’t give Him the praise if they don’t know that He’s the source for the goodness and light in us. They won’t know if we don’t speak His name and demonstrate our trust in Him and our love for His teachings. Our walk with Jesus is oh so very person, but it was never meant to be private. Share often! Share loudly! You don’t have to be perfect. None of us are. Brothers and Sisters, let the Redeemed of the Lord say so, for He has delivered us from the hands of the enemy!