“Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” —Matthew 5:16
Recently, I taught an emotional lesson to four different classes. I didn’t want to break down in front of students, and I held it together well, but in one class, a few tears slipped through. I noticed that when I cried, other students began to cry with me.
But in the classes where I didn’t cry, neither did the students, although the lesson was the same in every other way. This made me think about the unconscious influence of our behaviors.
Think about movie scenes that make you cry. Most are probably scenes where a character is crying, too.
Have you ever heard the goofy soundtracks on old comedy TV shows or noticed that comedies are often filmed before a live, laughing audience? That’s because when others laugh, we’re more likely to laugh, too — even when it’s not very funny.
Want to get someone to yawn? Start yawning. It’s contagious.
The point is if you want to inspire a certain behavior, the best way is to exhibit the behavior yourself.
Say you’re in an argument. If you want your opponent to get angry, get angry. If you want to defuse emotions, lower the tone, validate the criticism, and be respectful — the argument won’t last long.
We often rely on “telling” vs. “showing” to make a difference in the world. As Rouchefoucald said, “We give advice, but we do not inspire behavior.”
Jesus prominently did the reverse. For sure, He gave plenty of advice — mainly by teaching values his audience knew but weren’t showing. But when you think about Jesus’ influence, you probably think about his actions: His sacrifice on the cross. His healing and helping. His miracles. His turning the other cheek. While Jesus’ words impart significance to these actions, the actions continue to inspire profound positive reactions.
In Matthew 5:16, Jesus says, “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven,” a teaching backed up by His deeds.
If we want people to glorify God, we can’t just tell them they should glorify God. We have to show them to glorify God through our good works.
Philippians 2:14-16 says, “Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.’ Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.”
So, if you want people to laugh, laugh. But if you want to change the world, change yourself. To inspire patience, be patient. To inspire generosity, be generous. To inspire brotherly love, show brotherly love.
The best way to bring out the light in others is to let your own light shine.
Graceful Contemplation
Thank you for reading!
January had some great times and some sad times. Reuniting with former youth group members was a bright spot on a dark day as we mourned the loss of cherished friends. “The faithful love of the Lord never ends. His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.” —Lamentations 3:22-23