Being An Example

I Timothy 4:12, “Let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” In the margin it says “be a teaching example.” We teach by our example, which is far more reaching than our words. People may forget our words, but they will not forget our example. We want to be an example of the believers. We are people who have their heart set, not in Mormon, not in Jehovah’s Witness, but in the believing of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

I want to follow Jesus. He is my great example. In His pure life I see what God the Father has chosen for me to be. Jesus has the control, the ownership of our life. We have been bought with a price. Human nature is prone to look to others for example rather than being an example, and none can do it without an indwelling power. Paul could write to the Christians and say, “By the grace of God I am what I am.” As we sang in that hymn, “And every virtue we possess, and every conquest won, And every thought of holiness are His alone.” 

Paul wrote of those who were professing Godliness but denying the power thereof. Jesus’ power was not having control, not having ownership. It is His power that enables us to be different. Jesus said, “I do always those things that please my Father.” He taught with authority because His life backed it up. 

Once I was waiting at a bus stop and a man offered me a cigarette. I thanked him and said, “I don’t smoke.” I could tell by his breath that he just didn’t drink lemonade. He said, “I don’t want my young boy to smoke and drink when he grows up.” He had had the example of his father before him. A parent’s example is a child’s copy book. 

One day I was in a shop, waiting to be served, and a lady with a young girl was at the counter. This lady had ordered a lot, and the man was writing all the items in a docket book. This little girl leaned over the counter and said to her mother, “Mummy, he’s not writing on the line.” She had learned at school to write on the line. Parents, if you want your children to write on the line, you do it first. 

One day our beloved Queen came to visit a popular tourist place, Queenstown. She was invited to come to afternoon tea. Everyone was in a circle, and the Queen came in and was introduced to a number of people. She went to sign the visitors’ book. It is the privilege of royalty to sign in the middle of the page, and a little boy saw her begin to write in the middle and he blurted out, “You don’t write there, you’ll spoil the page.” The Queen thought quickly that this little boy had been taught to start at the top of the page so she graciously signed at the top of the page. Children are watching. Most people are watching our lives and we are an example in word. 

In my first meeting in W.A. on Sunday morning, there were twenty-four people in the meeting and the meeting was over in an hour and the people left time for me to have a word. It was a lovely, live meeting to be in. It is not good to be long in word or in prayer, but it is good to be an example. Sometimes people say that they do not have anything for the meeting that day then go on to speak for ten minutes. This is not being an example. “Let no corrupt communication come out of your mouth.” This is not edifying to others. 

One time a man went along to a priest to confess and afterwards, for penance, the priest said, “Go and bring me a bag of feathers.” The man thought this was easy, so he came back and gave the feathers to the priest. The priest opened the bag and let all the feathers go. It was a very windy day and they went everywhere. “Now,” the priest said, “you gather all the feathers again.” The man said, “This is impossible,” and the priest said, “The words you have passed on, it is impossible to bring them back again.” We can pass on words and they will go on and on. Let us be an example in word. 

A soft answer will turn away wrath. It tells us of the virtuous woman, “She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.” During the year, a mother in our field told us about a phone call she received from the principal of her son’s college. The teacher of the class had been trying to get her boy to go on a camp, for a week away. The boy had no interest in going away for a week with worldly company so he declined. The teacher thought it would not be the parents’ wish for him to decline, so he went to the principal who said, “I’ll ring the mother.” 

He had a lot to say about the benefits of going on a camp and he finished by saying, “We don’t want him to miss out on anything that will be able to help him.” The mother just said quietly, “Have you seen his school report?”  He said, “No.” This boy had the top report in the school, he had top marks. The mother told the principal to send for his report and to look at it, and after he had seen it to phone her again and tell her what the boy was missing out on. She did not get into any arguments. She opened her mouth with wisdom, and she never got that phone call. 

Psalm 141:3 “Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.” I have a member and I can’t control it. It is an unruly member and I need the help of God to control this member. A father in our field this year has a twelve year old son. At his school there was a big boy who was a bully, and he would pick on this boy David, who did not want to go to school because of this bullying. This man was the foreman of a bus company, and one morning he said to the driver of the bus, “I’ll take your bus out to try it out.” The big bully boy got on with a lot to say, and when the bus stopped at the school, he was the last one out. 

The father asked him if he knew his boy David. He said he did. The father said that there were some boys at the school who were knocking David about and he would like a big strong boy to look after him. He said, “Would you look after him?” He threw out his chest and said he would and from that time on he shadowed David and looked after him. This man opened his mouth with wisdom. 

Those who are an example in word are the best feeders in the meeting. They are living what they speak. To be an example in conversation means our daily manner of life. “May my daily walk and words and actions, Prove to all that Jesus lives in me.” It means our living in the home life; it means our modesty, our standard of dress. One of our young friends was leaving school and there were forty-nine girls who applied for a job in an office. They had to come before three bosses and our sister was chosen. It was not because of her qualifications, but because she had a standard, and they picked a winner. They were not disappointed. 

We do not lose in keeping a standard. We remember whose we are and whom we serve. The standard of modesty is in the ministry. Keep as near to the standard of the sister workers and as far away from the falling standards of the world as you can. God loves modesty, and we all have a responsibility in this respect. 

We depend on everyone to be consistent, to be the same on Monday morning in your dress as you were on Sunday. One daughter of our friends went to work with two other girls who belonged to a religious group. These other girls kept a nice standard, a better standard than the girl who was professing. She was missing out on her opportunity and privilege to show a Godly standard. 

Be an example in charity. We cannot be an example if we do not have the love of God in our hearts. Love moved Jesus to lay down His life as a Lamb without spot. Colossians 3:14, “And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.” There are things that we must put off first, before we can put on. The love of God binds us together. Sometimes people come to convention and they would like to have the fellowship that we have, but they cannot have the fellowship that we have because they do not have the salvation that we have. 

God has given us the spirit of God, not the spirit of fear, but of power. It is not just a form of Godliness but a power to love one another. There is a wall here on these grounds made of stones cemented together, and if you tried to put your finger between the stones, you cannot do it because there is mortar there holding the stones together, the bond of perfectness. If I have the love of God in my heart it is the bond of perfectness. 

Proverbs 17:9, “He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.” This means not spreading it around, seeking to have more of His love. Be an example in spirit. It is very important to have the right spirit to go with the right words. Proverbs 11:13, “A talebearer revealeth secrets, but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.” A faithful spirit will keep things hidden from other people. Paul wrote to Philemon about a servant who had run away, and he ended the letter with these words, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.” It is good when we can come together with the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Daniel was an example in spirit. He had an excellent spirit. He did not let himself get upset when he was accused wrongfully and was put into the lions’ den. He did not blurt out that they had told a lie. Those men went to the king and told a lie. They said that all the presidents and princes had consulted together but that was all except Daniel. 

We need to be an example in purity. We need to look continually to the life of our Master to feed on what is pure.  We can be taken up with trash and literature and we will never be pure. We need pure motives, pure thoughts. The line of a hymn says, “Obedience to the mind of Christ brings mental purity.” “Bid my carnal mind depart.” The grace and power of Heaven can enable me to be a better example. 

Jeroboam set a wrong example and all the kings of Israel were affected after him. Jehu said, “Come and see my zeal for the house of the LORD.” But this was a zeal to destroy. It was not a zeal to follow the Lord, like the standard David had set. We need to strive to be an example.   ~ ~

L. Hill - 1985 -