Hank Smith: 00:02 Hello, my friends. Welcome to another followHIM Favorites. My name is Hank Smith. I’m here with the wonderful John Bytheway. Hi, John.

John Bytheway: 00:09 Hi, Hank.

Hank Smith: 00:10 John, let’s have a good day today. You know the drill. We take a single question from this week’s lesson, which is in 1st and 2nd Timothy, Philemon and Titus. John, we’re going to take our question from 1st Timothy 4:12. “Let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example.” John, how can I be a better example? I want to be a better example, but what if I don’t know how? What do I do?

John Bytheway: 00:35 I’ve heard somebody say once that integrity is when your actions come up to the level of your understanding. This is what we know. This is how we live. We’re trying to be an example of what we say we believe. So that’s a good question. How do you do that? The fruits of the gospel really help us because when you do better, you just feel better.

Hank Smith: 00:59 Right. I’m reminded of Alma 17 when the four sons of Mosiah are going out on a mission. The Lord says, it’s verse 11, “Go forth among the Lamanites, establish my word, be patient in long-suffering and afflictions that ye may show forth good examples unto them in me.” So part of being a good example is being patient in trials and afflictions. And the Lord says that’s a good example to people in me, and you’ll be the instrument, he says, unto the salvation of many souls. When we’re in very difficult, dark times, if we can, we can show our faith and respond with faith. And the Lord says that’s a good example to others in me.

John Bytheway: 01:47 As a teenager I can’t remember who won the World Series during those years, who won the Super Bowl, who won the NBA championship. I can tell you the names of every one of my young men’s leaders and every one of my bishops. Those were men that I thought, I want to be like that someday. None of them ever said to me, you need to be like me. But I watched them and that was the power of their example. I thought, I want to be that way. There’s an old saying, I can’t hear what you say because what you are shouts so loudly in my ears.

Hank Smith: 02:17 Yeah.

John Bytheway: 02:17 And maybe that’s what the Lord was saying. If you show forth good examples in me to the sons of Mosiah, people will say, what is it about those guys?

Hank Smith: 02:25 I’ve never thought about that, John, with being an example is also being a builder, someone who builds other people. You made me think of my fourth grade elementary school teacher, Lana Beck. She loved me. I don’t think I deserved it being my little fourth grade self, but she loved me and I never thought of her as an example, but she really was. I don’t think she was trying to be, she just had a great love for her students. I’ve never forgotten it.

John Bytheway: 02:55 Yeah, we’re grateful for people who see more in us than we see in ourselves and that’s particularly when we’re young. In fact, I think when we get in their presence, we start behaving better because we know they think a lot of us like your teacher.

Hank Smith: 03:10 They see a lot in us. So yeah, John, I think that’s a new way to think about being an example. Be someone who loves and builds.

John Bytheway: 03:18 Edifies.

Hank Smith: 03:19 We hope you’ll join us on our full podcast. It’s called followHIM. You can get it wherever you get your podcasts. We’re with Dr. Barbara Morgan Gardner this week. She takes these sections apart. We think you’ll really enjoy it, and then join us next week here for another followHIM Favorites.