Let Your light So Shine
” We are sowing, daily sowing, Countless seeds of good and ill, . . .”1 There are few of us who pass through life without affecting – for good or bad – the lives of others, and there is a need for us to be aware of this powerful influence.
Certainly, every parent can agree with the old adage which says one can learn more from a single example than through hours of reading and lecturing . What mother or father has not had some particular phrase, habit or mannerism return to face him through his children. A simple but wise comment once came from a friend who said, ” Don’t ever do anything you would not want your son or daughter to do.” 2
Example is contagious, and it is not limited to the home. It is a principle which holds true everywhere. If we work with enthusiasm, we spread the spirit of enthusiasm. On the other hand, if we work with an air of discouragement or indifference, we transmit the same attitude to others. As a Spanish proverb puts it, “If you live with wolves, you will learn to howl.”3
Most of us realize the value and importance of example, but the challenge is to live as we know we should. How many times have we heard someone say, ” Do as I say, not as I do. ” Yet, it is what we do, not what we say, that carries the greatest influence.
There are those who believe that what they do is no concern of others. But life is not lived that way. What they do – what we all do – hurts or helps others whether we want it to or not.
If we are to be responsible individuals, if we are to live any measure of the Savio r’s admonition to love one another, and if we are truly concerned about our families, our communities, and our nation, then we must be willing to accept the responsibility of exemplary living.
We are now beginning a new year, a time often used to set our annual benchmarks. We call them New Year resolutions. And one of the most meaningful resolutions has been suggested by the greatest Exemplar of all . The Lord said, ” Let your light so shine before men, that they ma y see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”4
In the words of the hymn, ” Come, let us anew; our journey pursue; . . . And our talents improve By the patience of hope and the labor of love . . .”5 so that this year, and always, we may be a model for good, not only in what we say, but in all we do.
1 From the hymn, “We Are Sowing,” Author Unknown
2Nathan Eldon Tanner
3Spanish Proverb
4New Testament , Matthew 5:16
5From the hymn, “Come, Let Us Anew,” words by Charles Vesley
January 07, 1973
Broadcast Number 2,661