Jesus told His followers that they were to be the light of the world. We often ascribe that title to Jesus Himself, since He is the only one who can lead us out of the darkness of our lives. Perhaps it’s easier to only think about Jesus being the light because that absolves us of some responsibility. We’ll tell others about Christ and point them to His light, but if we are to shine ourselves that means we must make radical changes in the way we live. Jesus didn’t qualify His statement in Matthew 5:14. He didn’t say we could be the light of the world or that we should be the light of the world; He clearly said that we are the light of the world.