Let the light shine through
When you look at these windows from the outside, there's not much to see. There's pieces of glass, and some thing that holds them together. They don't look like much even when you get up close. You can tell they're different colors, but even in the bright sunlight they don't really stand out.
Almost immediately after taking this picture I went inside to check on something else, and the difference in the windows struck me. Suddenly, those individual colors and pieces of glass were sparkling and full of beauty. The difference was simple: the sun.
The glass has some color by itself, but it's beauty can be seen when the sun shines through it. The application to our Christian life is obvious. Many of us have talents and skills that we have worked hard to gain, building on the gifts that God has given us. But without Christ in our lives, we will never see our full potential. We can create something beautiful out of those parts of our lives, but the real beauty doesn't come until the Son shines through us.
The calling of a Christian is not to stand out or be noticed by people, but to let others see Jesus through them. No matter what stage you are at in life, live so that Jesus shines through you. A stained glass window does no good in the dark, and likewise a life without Christ is incomplete. Do your best to shine today, not so people notice you, but so that they can see Christ through you. Live your life in such a way that people see Christ shine through every part of your life.