But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until the full day. Proverbs 4:18 ESV

Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Isaiah 58:8 ESV

Our verses for today encourage us to shine God’s light to others. But before we get into how we can do that let’s talk about the word righteous and righteousness in our verses. Do you see the word right in the two words? Righteous means doing things that are right, things that God would want us to do. But none of us is perfect and always does everything right and God knows that. We can’t be righteous on our own which is why we need Jesus.

When we believe in Jesus and ask Him to forgive us, He does. And because we belong to Jesus, God sees us as His righteous sons and daughters, just like Jesus who never sinned. So now that we know we are seen as righteous by God, let’s talk about how you can shine the light of God to others. How you can brighten someone’s day!

We can shine God’s light to others by being kind, being caring, being helpful, being a friend, being a good listener, and by treating people like Jesus would, even when they aren’t always nice to us. You can brighten someone’s day by showing God’s love to others because God loves you and them.

This week talk with your parents about brightening someone’s day. I have a challenge for you and your family this week. Choose at least one person each day this week and be their light! Help with a chore, tell someone about Jesus, listen to the troubles of a friend, smile at people you pass in school (how many smiled back?), give your teacher a compliment, tell a joke and get others to laugh, tell your family you love them, and hug someone who’s sad. Can you and your parents think of more?

Blessings and light as you brighten people’s days this week!