President Lyndon Johnson loved to tell stories – and sometimes they spun out of control. Once, while giving an emotional address to U.S. troops, he claimed his great-great-grandfather had died at the Alamo. Johnson’s aides knew the story wasn’t true, and worryingly the speech had been taped by a reporter. They pressed him for a retraction. For days, Johnson refused. “I don’t care what you heard,” he said. “I didn’t say it.”

Let your light shine before others, so that they may…give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 5:16

Finally, with the anecdote threatening to become a scandal, Johnson engineered this creative explanation: “You all didn’t let me finish…it was the Alamo Bar and Grill in Eagle Pass, Texas.”

If you are fixated on polishing your life or legacy, you will be prone to embellishments, exaggerations and even outright lies. The greatest tragedy, though, will be that in shining the light on yourself you are claiming glory that belongs only to God. As you pray today for America, its leaders, and your own friends and loved ones, ask Him to make you an honest light to genuinely illuminate His truth and His love.

Recommended Reading: John 8:12-20