Just as the Savior gave unto us to be the salt of the earth—to preserve his word and his work in the world—so he gives unto us to be the light of this people. We are many lights now, a large city, and we cannot be hid. We are conspicuous lights in this world of darkness. As a candle or lamp is put up on a candlestick or lamp stand, so we must set our light to shine throughout our communities and nations: “Let your light so shine before this people.” Jesus Christ is our Light, for he said, “I am the light which ye shall hold up” (3 Nephi 18:24). In other words, our objective is to let him, our Light, shine through us to the glory of the Father, not for our own glory.
As Jesus said, we are the light of the world but only in the sense that we allow him to shine through us. In the ultimate sense, he is the light of the world to illuminate the darkened minds and lives of those who live without God in the world. There is no switch to turn off the darkness, but we do have him to turn on the light, which dispels the darkness. We may not be able to turn off all the darkness of sin in the world—the drunkenness, the pornography, the abuse, the immorality, the violence, the hate—but we can turn on the light of Christ, any time and any place, to help dispel the evil influences that surround us.