Let Me Be Clear...

***If you have just started reading my blog, I am in a series called "The 4 C's".  This is my second post.  If you're interested, please see the previous post.  Also, this shows the science-nerd in me...but it's not really about science.  Read the post to the end to see what I mean.***

Any girl who has looked at engagement rings (or loves some "sparkle" in her life) has been educated on "The 4 C's" of a diamond:  Color, Cut, Clarity, and Carat.  Over the next few days/weeks (depending on life), I will be reflecting on how each of these 4 areas relate to me and the facets of my life (and maybe you too...)

Today, I will discuss Color.  When speaking of diamonds, the more colorless a diamond is, the more valuable it is.  The GIA has developed a scale that rates a diamond between a D-Z.  A "D" rating is colorless, or the best.  As I look at the facets of my life, I have to ask myself if I have a "D" rating.  Do I allow unwholesome things to add impurities to who I am and thus affect my "sparkle"?  What kinds of things have the potential to add impurities to the gem God has created me to be?  What kinds of things look like specks of carbon in the diamond that is my life?  Allowing my past to control my present and my future, my ever-present weaknesses, allowing the opinions of others to shape me, the things I allow myself to listen to and watch, and the list could go on and on.  There are so many things that can add impurities to my life.

But here's the thing:  I can control these things.  I can choose to allow my past to be an impurity, or I can allow God's forgiveness to erase that speck of carbon in the diamond of my life.  I can allow the opinions of others to add specks of carbon to who I am, or I can allow God's view of my soul to clearly define me.  Again...the list could go on and on...

I am very clearly (pardon the pun), not colorless.  I have many faults and specks of carbon in the diamond that is my life.  How can I still shine?  Proverbs 27:19 says, "As water reflects the face, so one's life reflects the heart."  I examine the way I live my life, and thus, my heart.  I know I will never be perfect, but I strive to keep my heart in a place to reflect Christ.  

So how do I shine?  The answer is simple.  I don't.  Just like a diamond does not have a source of light and cannot shine until light is directed through it, I don't shine unless I allow Christ to be my source of light and allow HIM to shine through me.  

How do you shine?