Matthew 5:16 (GNV)

Passage

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good workes, and glorifie your Father which is in heauen.

Nearby Context

Matthew 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A citie that is set on an hill, cannot be hid.

Matthew 5:15 Neither doe men light a candel, and put it vnder a bushel, but on a candlesticke, and it giueth light vnto all that are in the house.

Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good workes, and glorifie your Father which is in heauen.

Matthew 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the Lawe, or the Prophets. I am not come to destroy them, but to fulfill them.

Matthew 5:18 For truely I say vnto you, Till heauen, and earth perish, one iote or one title of the Law shall not scape, till all things be fulfilled.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "light", "shine", "before", "good", "workes", "glorifie", "father", and "heauen". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "light" and "shine", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "Neither doe men light a candel and..." into verse 17's "Think not that I am come to...", so "light" and "shine" belong inside that flow. In Matthew context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "light" and "shine" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.