What if we told you that’s the point!
Something that is so real in Christian culture is the pressure to be perfect. One thing to be clear on is that being the light of the world is not a call to outward perfection. Instead, it is a much deeper call to freedom that overflows in all we do.
In John 8:12, Jesus states, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (ESV). In this verse, Jesus makes it clear that following Him means walking in freedom. All of the chains that once covered us–depression, anxiety, perfectionism, comparison, pride, vanity, anger–are broken! While we will still struggle with many things this side of heaven, that does not discount or cancel out the new life Jesus has given us.
2 Corinthians 12:1-9 brings reassurance that life in Christ is not a life concerned with our perfection, but rather a life that magnifies Christ through confession of our deepest struggles with sin. The beautiful thing about redemption in Christ is that we did not gain our salvation by being perfect, which means that we do not witness to others by projecting our perfection.
Paul makes it clear in this passage that our life is not about boasting about ourselves and how “good of Christians'' we are. Instead, honesty about our weaknesses paves the way to freedom that points directly to Jesus. Jesus wants us to confess our struggles so that He can set us free and magnify His love and mercy through our weakness.
Back to John 8:12, we need to make a clear distinction between hiding the darkness within us and truly walking in the light. Just because we may paint ourselves as “good” publicly, if we aren’t allowing the light of Jesus to consume us and set us free from sin, then we are not living as the light of the world–we are simply trying to look perfect on our own strength. The devil wants us to stay in this cycle of keeping our struggles in the darkness, in an attempt to prevent us from experiencing freedom and being the light of the world.
Ephesians 5:13-14 says that “when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”” When we confess our sin, we are letting the light of Jesus infiltrate us, which then overflows out of us and points others to Him.
We don’t need to feel inadequate in being the light of the world because we’re struggling with sin–that is a lie from the devil! When we confess our struggles to Jesus and allow His Holy Spirit to purify us, we can then boast to others of the love and kindness of God that sets us free from all sin.
When we do this, we display that “God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance” (Romans 2:4, ESV). This is an incredible testimony to those who are walking in darkness–that Jesus, in His kindness, offers us the opportunity of repentance so that we may walk in the light of His life and experience freedom!
How good is our God that He wants us to pour out all the darkness in our hearts to Him so that He can restore us with His light (1 John 1:9)! Instead of just telling us to be good enough on our own, He uses our mess and need for mercy to show others the mercy, grace, and freedom He has to offer!
Application:
- Am I feeling inadequate as a reflection of Jesus because of my struggles with sin?
- Is there any darkness in me that I am not confessing to God, so that I can experience freedom? (Eph 5:13-14)
- How can I boast about the mercy God has on me and the freedom He has brought me, even in my current struggles? (2 Cor 12:1-9)
Remember, even in your darkest struggles, He wants to set you free, He wants to use your weakness to magnify His strength.
You are still the light of the world. You are still the anomaly.