“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”—Matthew 5:16

I never really thought of Matthew 5:16 as one that encouraged us to not hide our gifts but to let them shine. I read it as more of doing good works. However, the reality is, when you do good works you are using the gifts that God gave you. For me, I make it a point to diversify my knitting. There is nothing wrong with knitting things for myself, but if I only knit things for me, I am not able to share the love of Jesus through my handmade items.  

Galatians 6:9 tells us not to grow weary of doing good works. What we do DOES have eternal impact. If we don’t give up, at the proper time we will reap a harvest. I can see how my labor of love with a knitting ministry bore fruit in God’s timing. In fact, this week, I had 3 new people reach out to me about our group. We can always use more hands to make more items for our community! As for the gifts I randomly give away, I may not ever see the fruits of that labor. That is okay. It doesn’t discourage me. I know I am planting seeds that God will grow.

When I am going through my scripture tags to attach to a gift , it is no coincidence the one that ends up on it. This week I delivered a box full of over 30 hair scrunchies to my mother’s assisted living. It was a little something for me to give some of the workers to show my appreciation for them. I left them at the caregivers station. Every one of them was taken. God knew ahead of time who was going to get each one and which scripture each person needed to read.

I had a second opportunity later in the week to give away a felted gift card holder to one of the ladies cleaning a bathroom at the Dallas Apparel Mart. Dallas markets are crazy busy. There are A LOT of people in and out of all those restrooms. Not only was this woman making sure if was clean, she was even taking the time to make sure each sink had a paper towel to dry your hands. She was definitely going above and beyond her job.

I kept forgetting to stick the gift card holder in my pocket. The next morning I kept praying, Lord, please nudge me to not forget to bring it with me when I go to the restroom. On one trip, I started to walk out of the showroom and was reminded to go back for it. Not only was that same woman cleaning, but I was the only person in there with her. I had the perfect time carved out to talk to her and give her the gift. I let her know that what she was doing mattered, made a difference and I appreciated her taking pride in her job. Will I ever see the fruits of this? I doubt it, but it filled my heart to see her gratitude as she smiled and thanked me.

What gifts might you have that you aren’t using? Could they be hidden because if you reveal them, it would require you to step outside of your comfort zone? God wants us to shine our gifts not set them on the dimmer switch. Try to bless other people in ways that you have been blessed. It is called “paying it forward.” Don’t discount the influence you have in seemingly small acts of kindness. As Christians, this is something we can all do.

Father God,

Forgive me when I let being busy take precedence over a random act of kindness You put in my pathway. I trust You to put me in the right place at the perfect time. You are all knowing and nothing happens by chance when we are obedient to Your voice. Thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide me and lead me to be a light to those who need it the most. Soften hearts to listen to Your nudges to use their gifts to make a difference in Your Kingdom. We give You praise because of Your ultimate Gift that You gave us….Your Precious Son, Jesus. It is in the mighty name of Jesus that I pray these things. Amen.

August Verse

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.”—Matthew 6:33

If you are knitting or crocheting gifts to give away, please make sure you tweet @KnitPrayShare or share your projects on the Knit, Pray, Share Facebook page or Instagram using the hashtag #KnitPrayShare. Be sure to attach a tag to whatever gift you make