Dear Sons and Daughters,

The Apostle Paul wrote the following to his son Timothy:

“Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.” 1 Timothy 4:12 (NLT)

The word example is defined as “one that serves as a pattern to be imitated or not to be imitated.” I learned to write my first letter of the alphabet by following the pattern the teacher would write on the chalkboard. For homework, she would write the letters in our notebooks so that we could follow the pattern. We would then go home, rehearse what was written and eventually, we learned to write.

This same principle is needed in the life of every believer. God gave us a pattern of life to imitate, and that pattern is in His written word, the Bible. As Paul instructed Timothy, we need to “Be an example.” Author Gene Getz writes the following: “Some biblical truths can be taught with words alone, such as who Jesus is, how to be saved and many other Bible doctrines. But some things must be taught by both instruction and example. In fact, without modeling, some words are meaningless.”

Yes, there are some Biblical principles that can be taught by words alone. However, we must become living models of what we preach and teach. How we live matters to those who hear and watch us.

So before you say, do, think or even post on social media, THINK AGAIN! Am I “an example to believers?”

From My Heart!