Shinefor GOD

00:00Intro

Hello my dear friend, welcome to our episode 202, September 23rd, 2026 "Shine for God" is the topic that we will reflect about today. Here the readings are on the screen. As you can see there are references here to different sections of the Gospels. We choose one and we are about to read in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Please Lord guide us through this study. Thank you, Jeho, for the scripture on the screen.

00:32Luke 11:33

Luke 11:33. no one takes a light and puts it under a bowl or hides it. Instead, they put it on a lampstand so that people who come in can see.

00:47Last week: episode 201

In our previous episode 201, we address the issue of people that are disrespectful that they don't have manners to talk to God. If you haven't watched that episode, I encourage you to watch it.

01:01Praising God while praising people

It's very interesting. But today, you are going to learn how while you are praising people, actually, you are praising God. Praising God while you are praising people? That doesn't make any sense. Well I will explain to you if you allow me. That is why I need to ask you,

01:21Why do people refuse to praise others?

why do people refuse to praise others? What is the main reason? For example, in your family, in your home, in your school, in your work? Why do people refuse to praise others? Are they afraid of looking less than the rest? Well, yes, there are many that they feel that way. Other people don't like to praise others because they are too prideful to do it. They are insecure and they lack self-confidence. They say, "I don't want to do that." But actually, there is another question that I would like

02:03Narcissism

us to talk about. It is about narcissism. Do you know that narcissist is the person that is always thinking of himself? Correct? Do you know that? I hope. Now, is it possible that it is because of narcissism that people don't like to praise others? What do you think? Maybe that is the main point. Perhaps they don't want to acknowledge that someone is doing a great job. But that takes us to another point.

02:39Is God jealous of you?

Is God jealous of you or someone else? In other words, do you think it is possible that the Lord God is uncomfortable praising people saying, "Good job"? What do you think? The truth is, there is no way that the Lord God is going to feel insecure by saying, "Good job" to you. Imagine the Lord God saying, "No, I am not going to say to Pastor Gian, "Good job" because that, you know, can you imagine the Lord God feeling jealous of a preacher? Of course not.

03:23Insecure people

However, it is possible that some people are insecure. They don't have the proper self-confidence. And as a result of that, they don't like to praise anybody. They know that some people are doing a great job. Sometimes it is inside of a house. Families have that problem, especially with siblings. Sometimes it is competition with husband and wife. In the company, that is pretty common.

03:54The lamp needs to shine

Do you realize what the Lord Jesus said here? He said, "The lamp should be on the lampstand." In other words, the lamp needs to shine. Because what is the point of having a lamp if you are going to put it, whether it is inside of a box or under something, what could be the point of having a lamp if you are not going to use it? And that is what the Lord wants you to know today.

04:24Your gifts and talents

The Lord has blessed you, my friend, with different gifts. The Lord has blessed you with the skills. You have talents. Who gave you the talents? The Lord God. And He wants you to use those talents. And it is possible that you are thinking, "No, I don't want to do that. You know, it is too arrogant of me." No, that is not arrogant of you. To use your skills, to use the gifts the Lord God gave you, that is not arrogant. It is exactly what

04:59The parable of the talents

you should do. Do you remember the other story of the Lord Jesus telling us, "I gave to one person ten or five and another two and one"? Do you remember that story? And He said, "He was so mad because the one guy that only had one talent or skill, whatever you want to call it, was afraid of using it." And that is the

05:27God is the source of everything

problem. A believer is a person that understands who God is. You as a believer understand that. The Lord God is the source of everything, the source of life, the source of gifts. The Lord God is the giver of life. The Lord God is there for you. In the past, He was. In the present, He is. And in the future, He will. Because He is the Lord God Almighty. He gives everything and the glory at the end is all for Him.

06:02Humans are not competition

So for Him, a human being is not competition. Humankind is not competition. Somehow it's like the celebration of His creation. Out of all the things without life, He decided to give to humans the ability to desire, to think, to create at the same time. You know, animals cannot do those things. You know, cats? Cats meow! But that's it.

06:38The crown of His creation

But the Lord created humans and we are the crown of His creation. And He is expecting that we humans will glorify His name. That is the problem. Unfortunately, throughout history, we have seen that individuals with blessings and gifts and skills, they took them the wrong way. But if you, being gifted by God, would you take those skills and you say, "I want to use these gifts, these intelligence, these beauty, these wealth, whatever the Lord gave you." You say, "I want to use this to glorify the name of the Lord." You are on the right path, my friend.

07:22The light on the lampstand: influence

The light must be on the lampstand. Meaning what, my friend? Meaning influence. Influence. That is what you should be doing in your life. Influencing others. That is leadership.

07:43Leadership is not authority

People confuse the word "leadership" with "authority." Some people, for example, in companies, they might have authority. But they don't exercise leadership. They should say, "Do this, do that." But they have zero leadership skills. Because leadership is about influence. It's the ability to lead people, to persuade people, to motivate people. That is the point of skills and talents. The light must be on the lampstand. You

08:20Integrity

understand that. The other thing is, if you are gifted, the Lord bless you with the skills. It's because He is expecting that you will have integrity about that. That you will use those skills the right way, my friend.

08:35Self-confidence and accountability

Integrity also will take you to a place of having a good self-image. Which takes us again to the same point, right? Self-confidence. And why is that important? Well, it's important because with the proper self-confidence, you are going to exercise your leadership with integrity by being accountable. And you will respond to anybody when they question you. If people ask you, "Why are you doing this?" and "Why are you doing that?" You have the integrity. You are certain. You have the self-confidence. You say, "I'm doing this for the glory of God."

09:20The betterment of yourself

Therefore, what we need to do, like in your case, you have gifts and skills. Your job is to get better. The betterment of yourself. You need to improve yourself in whatever is what you do. And your skill. And the only way that you can do better is when you are willing to expose yourself to do that thing. Imagine for those who have gifts to be on a stage, like a musician or a singer, for example, they have to be on a stage to be exposed to the public, to the others, and say, "I like when you do that and I don't like when you do this."

10:05Criticism or feedback

The betterment of yourself will come when you are open to receive criticism, feedback. So we don't like the word criticism, right? But it's pretty much the same. The difference might be intention. Some people like just to, "You know that." But others, they might say to you, "These are the things you are doing great." And that is what the Lord wants you to do, my friend. Because when you are doing things the right way and you are actually doing superb and you look good at what you are doing, whether you are cooking in your home, a meal for your family, or whatever is what you are doing in your work,

10:48They are praising God

people will praise you. But you know that when they praise you, they are actually not praising you. They are praising God. That is the purpose of the light on the lampstand. That is you, my friend. But if you

11:04A transformation inside of you

do not have the Spirit of God inside of you, of course you are going to be confused. And you think that this is because you are great. Precisely for that reason is that we all need to come in agreement with God initially, with ourselves, that there has to be a powerful transformation inside of you through the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, the death and resurrection of the One who gave His life for you and I, Jesus Christ the Lord. I hope you did it. And if not, today is the day. Open your

11:43John 3:16

heart, my friend. Remember John 3:16 is the key verse in the Bible about that. He sent His Son Jesus to die for you because He loves

11:54A little humor

you. So speaking about prideful people, I remember this guy who one day said to me, "I am so proud of my humility." But there is another guy who said to me this, "I got an award for being the most humble, but I cannot accept it because if I do, that would mean that I am not humble anymore."

12:20Thank you for your time

Thank you for your time, my friend. Here with us, episode 202 of the series. Remember we are in all these platforms available for you, 24-7. You can watch, you can listen, you can enjoy tons of music. I know you are going to have a blast. Next time you are visiting our platforms.

Transcribed from the video and lightly corrected. Spoken words are kept as Dr. Gian said them.