Be thou an Example:

"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."
~ 1 Timothy 4:12

    The past couple of weeks, I have had it made known to me that I am being watched, and setting an example without even knowing it.  A few weeks ago, I received a message on facebook, from a friend that I rarely ever talked to, thanking me for being an example to her by getting married in the temple,  and then just today I got another message from one of my very good friends, telling me that I was an example to her as well. 
   This got me thinking about a lot of things that I have done in my life and choices I have made because of other peoples examples to me. Some of which, came from these two friends that wrote to me, and I realized that all of us are influenced by examples of some form or another, whether they be good examples of how we wish to be, or bad examples of how we hope not to be.  So this realization, got me thinking some more, about the kind of example I want to be... I want to be an example of the believers.  I have always said, that when you set a goal in your mind, and in your heart, and you stay true to that goal,  then when you are faced with a decision, you will automatically pick the choice that will lead you closer to your goal.  It may be subconsiously, and you may not realize it at the time,  but if you are truely set on something you want, then living to reach that goal will come naturally.  My goal is, "The Kingdom of God, or Nothing"  I know that sounds harsh, but if I do not reach the Kingdom of God then I have nothing, there is no 2nd best option for me.  And because of that, I have been able to make decisions a lot easier because I would think to myself, "is this going to lead me closer to my goal?" and then I would think of the people around me and how they are living, and I found myself sort of gravitating to the people that I wanted to be like, that would help me reach my goal.  Examples are everywhere, and you don't really have to try to be an example, because you are one weather you realize it or not. I think what we have to do is to choose whether or not we are going to be a good example or a bad one, and then go from there.  I am so grateful to the examples that I had in my life because they brought me to where I am today.  They brought me to happiness and love, and they kept me in the gosple.  Thank goodness for the amazing examples in my life, for my parents, my siblings, my friends, my husband and his family.  I love you all! <3 laura