Be an Example of the Believers

In the New Testament of the Bible, 1 Timothy 4:12 says:

“…be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”

For years I felt guilt and shame as I struggled to align my faith in that scripture with my actions in choice of language. It was easy to watch my language in front of others of my own faith, but as soon as I was out of their company and confronted with circumstances that triggered strong emotion, there would be an outpouring of bad language.

I prayed often to the Creator in help with conquering this weakness. For awhile, some co-workers and I decided to start a swear jar but the small financial penalty was not enough incentive or deterrent to make a permanent change. I felt discouraged and thought that I was never going to be able to be the kind of example that I wanted to be.

In May 2014, I attended The Answer to Everything in Edmonton, AB. One of the major things I learned about was the two parts of ourselves – the Hyena (or ego) and the Lion (or higher self). I knew that these two parts of myself existed but I had forgotten all about them. As I sat in the event listening to Brandon Broadwater talk about these two opposites and their characteristics, I gained perspective and started to see how the Hyena had been playing a dominant part in my life with respect to my decisions. Brandon talked about Pride and the Pride Cycle which were not new concepts to me from scripture study but I had never really likened them to myself. I had never considered myself a prideful person. I learned how one of the three Pillars of State is Language / Meaning.  As the 3 days of the Answer to Everything unfolded, my perspective was raised and I started to see where I had been prideful, where I was shrinking and where I was holding back. I saw how I had made most of my decisions based on circumstance vs. principle. I saw where I was feeding my Hyena instead of my Lion.

As the weeks and months after the event followed and I strove to align to Higher Laws, I noticed an interesting thing happen. I did not have a desire to use bad language anymore!!! It was a natural consequence of striving to be a Lion!  My prayers had been answered and I had finally learned the secret to stop swearing. Now that my perspective was raised, I could clearly see that Lions use good language and Hyena’s use bad language. The kind of language you use is a clear sign of which part of yourself you are feeding.

Thanks to Brandon and the Higher Laws team for helping me to see how I can be an even better example of the believers!