For most, the year starts on January 1st, but for many of us, our lives revolve around a school calendar. Ever since I was little, the year always seemed to start in August. The first week of school came with new friends, new classes, and a choice… Who will I be this year? For many years as a young child, I was shy and embarrassed that I couldn’t read as well as everyone else. However, by the fifth grade, I had almost caught up with the others and became more confident and outgoing. As a result, I morphed into a sort of class clown who loved attention and even grew further by high school. I would do about anything for a laugh or to have a good time. By freshman year I was arrogant, a smart mouth, and sometimes disrespectful and challenging. However, during the summer between my freshman and sophomore years, I became a Christian.
My life had changed for the better, or did it? I was faced with the toughest challenge to date. Would I be the loud, obnoxious, and sometimes rude and arrogant person I was when I left school, or would I finally begin to live up to the name I had since birth?
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16).
I had a choice: go back to who I was and what everyone expected of me or show the world the light that now resided in me. It was a new year, new classes, new teachers, new friends, and I was a new Christian. I chose to live out Matthew 5:16, and everything changed: my lunch table, the way I treated my teachers, the way I talked to my friends, and the way I acted in class. I was different at my core, and others noticed.
The greatest evangelistic tool, in my opinion, is simply the way you live each and every day. Shine the light you were meant to shine! Decide every day to be a Christian. It matters, you matter, and God is great.