One thing I loved to do when I was in elementary school was read chapter books. I had finished all of the “Sweet Valley High” series by the time I completed second grade. Maybe that’s why I was so obsessed with boys as an eight-year-old? If you know, you know. And if you know, you probably grew up in the late 1980’s just like I did!

The classic “Charlotte’s Web” was one of my favorites, though. It’s such a great story about loneliness that leads to friendship and sacrifice for the greater good of another. If you remember, Wilbur the pig was headed to the slaughterhouse before Charlotte the spider came along. Her skill of weaving words into her webs was his saving grace. She came up with some very clever words in the story, but her very first word for him was “radiant”.

Upon looking at those pages in that children’s chapter book again as I prepared to teach about true radiance from a spiritual, biblical perspective, I realized that many of us find ourselves in a similar situation as Wilbur. He longed to be radiant but would describe himself as plain and quite ordinary. Once Charlotte gave him this label, however, he began to do his best to live up to his new reputation by trying to make himself glow, throwing himself into this process with his own will and catch this—putting on quite a show for his audience.

Consider the parallels. Do you long to shine brightly but, on most days, see yourself and your life as dull and gray? If you answered yes to that, you’re not alone. And in our day and age, we can quickly and easily apply fake fixes to such a state of life. We can make ourselves “glow” with reels of our highlights in life while excluding the real-life everyday struggles. We can filter our photos to give us a shine and a smile for that moment in time, only to go back to real-time with our bathroom mirrors and find our facial flaws. In so many ways, we’re doing what Wilbur did: Throwing ourselves into the process of looking good, changing ourselves from the outside-in and putting on our own little version of a show for some audience out there.

I don’t have to tell you that this “fake radiance” is unfulfilling. We both already know that. There is a better way. It’s to be radiant, for real. Which is walking closely with Christ, who is the Light . . .

Psalm 34: 4-5 says, “I sought the Lord and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.”

And it is walking in deep fellowship with others, who point us to the saving grace of the Gospel in that Light . . .

1 John 1:7 says, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

Perhaps take a moment to consider this better way. And acknowledge, out loud or in your journal, that what you really want in this fake-a-glow world, and what you are truly destined for by the Word of God itself, is real radiance. An authentic glow that doesn’t come from your own efforts. A supernatural shine about you that stems from your relationship with the living and loving Lord Jesus, resulting in your sanctification. It’s a heart and soul level transformation. It’s the fruit of the Holy Spirit. It’s all the things from all the righteous places AND the right process: looking to Him and fellowshipping with one another.

My encouragement to you, and to myself, is not to spend our time and efforts on the superficial change when what Christ has in store for us is so much more. We can commit today to a closer walk with Jesus and a deeper community with others. We can commit to His Word and His way. And boldly ask the Lord to help us shine brightly for Him. To be radiant. For real! Radiant!

*FOR MORE INFO ON HOW TO HOST A RADIANT WOMEN’S EVENT, SEE MY EVENT PAGE HERE.*