Let Your Face Shine

You are the light of the world…
Let your light shine before men
-Matthew 5:14, 16

That begins at home.

You are the light of your Sweetheart’s world.
Let your light shine!

Yes, it does refer to good deeds,
to kindness, patience and all the virtues.
But it has a more literal application too.

The Lord said to Moses,
“Say to Aaron and his sons,
Thus you shall bless the people of Israel:
you shall say to them,
The Lord bless you and keep you:
The Lord make His Face to shine upon you,
and be gracious to you:
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
and give you peace.
So shall they invoke My Name upon the Israelites,
and I will bless them
-Numbers 6:22-27 (emphasis added)

The blessing God extended to His people
was to let His Face shine upon them.
That’s the heart of what we need.
We need someone’s face
to shine upon us–
to light up over us!

You have that light–
better,
you are that light.

You need to shine–
first and foremost, to shine on that beloved soul
the good God has entrusted to you
that you might help him/her get to Heaven!

Your sweetheart needs to see you light up
over him/her
no matter how long you’ve been together.

That doesn’t just happen,
especially as disappointments, hurts and irritations multiply.
That’s why Jesus had to command us to shine.
He knew it wouldn’t always come naturally.

Lighting up is a choice.
It requires a concerted orientation of mind:

your thoughts should be wholly directed
to all that is true, all that deserves respect,
all that is honest, pure, admirable,
decent, virtuous, or worthy of praise.
-Philippians 4:8

Your beloved, however flawed,
is delightful!
Hunt for that delight.
Go deep-sea-diving if you have to
but find it
and dwell on it.

You, of all people,
are the best qualified and the best equipped
to find the treasure God’s hidden in your beloved.

If it helps, imagine what you would miss about him/her
if they got into an accident that day
and never came home (it happens).

Ask God to take you up into His delight in him/her.

Another challenge can be simply getting your sweetheart’s attention.
If they don’t notice you,
they won’t notice that you’re shining
(and it makes it harder to shine…).

Watch for opportunities.
My best time to shine is usually when my prince returns,
when I drop whatever I’m doing to fly into his arms
for a hug and a kiss.

I pull back just enough that I can see his face,
look into his eyes,
and beam!

Sometimes I add three happy little bounces,
just for the fun of it :).

No matter how my day’s gone or how I feel,
that gets the evening off to a good start!

And although we have no children,
so I can’t speak from direct experience,
it makes sense that they need someone’s face to shine on them too!