This year after thoughtful consideration and prayer I chose the word “Demonstrate” it just kept coming back to me even when I decided I didn't want it and thought I wanted a word that was much more inspiring and uplifting. Demonstrate seemed very mechanical and unemotional. It was not very fun or spiritual I thought. As I began to mull it over and think on it I realized that I could not get away from this word and I began to see that it in fact “Demonstrate” is very much a part of a person’s spiritual growth. It is the outward sign of inward transformation.
I can remember back when Stuart and Leah were about three and six. I was going through a time where I contemplated what the phrase “Glorify the Lord” really meant. I had heard that phrase all my life in church but never really stopped to truly understand how it applied to my life. Glorify is not a word we use in our everyday language speaking to one another. It was simply a religious word to me. At that time Stuart and Leah were living and breathing anything to do with “Thomas The Tank Engine” they never left the house without grasping one of their wooden trains in their little hands. Stuart would most always take “Thomas” and Leah usually took “Lady” the purple engine. On the underbelly of the trains the name of the train is inscribed. Leah didn’t really own any of the trains they were all Stuart’s but he was happy to let her play with them. One day at Grandma’s Leah asked for Grandma to put a piece of paper on “Lady” underneath where the name was inscribed that said “This train belongs to my brother Stuart but he lets me play with it.” Grandma helped her print it out and tape it to the underbelly of “Lady”. Leah was so proud to show everyone the message of how good her brother was to her that he let her play with his trains.
On the way home from Grandma’s Stuart got very upset that Leah had altered his train by putting on the inscription. He quickly grabbed it and tore off the paper. You can imagine the tears and hollering that were coming from the back seat. As a mom I was so upset with the argument and proceeded to tell Stuart how wrong he was and how disappointed I was in his actions. My emotions were also running high when I spurted out “All that piece of paper did was proclaim your glory and how good you were to Leah!” Before I finished the sentence I was taken aback by my own words. From the lives of my children I had a beautiful demonstration of what it meant to Glorify the Lord. The art of directing others to see his goodness. God had shown me a simple act by a three year old how to live out what it meant to glorify him.
Now, nearly seven years later I am back full circle concentrating on demonstrating God’s Glory. In the Old Testament God displayed his Glory among the Israelites with a pillar of fire and column of smoke or cloud. This was so the people could know he was present with them. In the New Testament it says that we The Church will display his Glory. We as Christians are The Church. Through us others will see God and his goodness. This year I want to practice demonstrating his goodness to those around me in three ways I believe God laid out for us in the Bible. First, I want to demonstrate his goodness by my faith and living out what I believe consistently and obediently. Second, I want to demonstrate his goodness by possessing and sharing the hope that sustains me in the trials and circumstances of my life. Finally, I want to demonstrate his goodness through love. A love that fills me to overflowing so that I can share it with others. A love that looks like the definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13 overlooking faults, forgiving, patient and humble.
Lord, help me to grow in these areas through out my year. Recognizing both the big and small opportunities through out my day where I can demonstrate to others your goodness.
“There are three things that will endure -- faith, hope, and love -- and the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13
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