📜 15 Behold, do men light a candle and put it under a bushel? Nay, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light to all that are in the house;
📜 16 Therefore let your light so shine before this people, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
cross-reference words:
candle, light, glorify
✨ What Comes From Being an Example to Others
3 Nephi 12:15–16 teaches that discipleship is not hidden. A life patterned after Christ becomes illumination—quiet, steady, unmistakable. Being an example is not self-display; it is God‑display. When a disciple shines, the Father is revealed.
📕 Luke 8
📜 16 ¶ No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light.
A candle exists to give light. Christ’s question—“Do men light a candle and put it under a bushel?”—exposes the absurdity of concealed discipleship.
Luke 8:16 reinforces the same truth: light is meant to be seen.
A disciple who lives Christ’s teachings becomes a spiritual “candlestick”—a place where God’s goodness becomes visible to anyone who enters.
What comes from being an example?
Others gain sight. They see a way forward they did not see before.
A life that reflects Christ becomes a steady light others can trust. When disciples refuse to hide their goodness, their patience, their mercy, and their faith, they make God visible in a world that often forgets Him. The candle is small, but its reach is wide; the light is simple, but its influence is deep. By living as Christ lived, we guide others toward Him, and every good work becomes an act of glorifying the Father.
📜 24 Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do. Behold ye see that I have prayed unto the Father, and ye all have witnessed.
📜 18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
📕 John 13
📜 15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.
📒 3 Nephi 15 ★
📜 12 Ye are my disciples; and ye are a light unto this people, who are a remnant of the house of Joseph.
📜 38 Behold, this is an ensample unto all people, saith the Lord your God, for justification before me.
3 Nephi 18:24 clarifies the nature of the light we “hold up”:
“Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do.”
The example is not self-generated. It is derivative—Christ’s life refracted through ours.
Proverbs 4:18 describes the path of the just as a light that grows brighter.
John 13:15 anchors it: “I have given you an example.”
3 Nephi 15:12 names disciples as “a light unto this people.”
What comes from being an example?
Your life becomes a continuation of His ministry—His works, His mercy, His prayers, His patience—made visible in modern time.
A disciple’s light is simply Christ’s life shining through a willing heart. As we follow His example, our path grows brighter, our influence deepens, and others see in us the same mercy, patience, and devotion He lived. Being an example means carrying His ministry forward in quiet, steady ways that help the world recognize Him again.
📕 John 11
📜 1 Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
📜 2 (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)
📜 3 Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.
🗝📜 4 When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.
📒 Ether 12
📜 4 Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.
3 Nephi 12:16 gives the outcome:
“…that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
The light does not glorify the candle. It glorifies the Source.
John 11:4 shows that even suffering can become a stage for God’s glory.
Ether 12:4 ties faith, hope, steadfastness, and good works to the same end—souls being “led to glorify God.”
What comes from being an example?
Your life becomes a conduit through which others recognize God, trust God, and turn toward God.
A life filled with good works naturally directs attention back to God. When faith produces hope, steadiness, and compassion, others see more than human effort—they see the character of the Father revealed. Even trials can become places where His glory breaks through. To glorify God is simply to live in a way that helps others notice Him, trust Him, and draw nearer to Him because of the light they see in you.
Candle — identity
Light — conduct
Glorify — outcome
A disciple’s example is not ornamental; it is functional.
It guides.
It reveals.
It anchors.
It points upward.
When your life shines, others don’t praise you—they find Him.
A life patterned after Christ becomes a quiet revelation of who God is. The candle teaches that discipleship is meant to be visible; the light teaches that what shines is not our brilliance but His example reflected in us; glorify teaches that every good work is meant to turn hearts heavenward. When we live openly as disciples—steady, patient, prayerful, merciful—others gain direction, hope, and clarity. Our influence becomes a continuation of the Savior’s ministry, not through grand gestures but through consistent goodness that helps others recognize the Father’s character. Even trials can become places where His glory is revealed. To be an example is to let Christ’s life move through ours so naturally that others feel invited toward Him. In this way, discipleship becomes illumination, and illumination becomes worship.
To be an example is to become a living Beatitude—an embodied sermon. Christ’s light in you becomes Christ’s invitation to them. Your witness becomes their way home.
Something I'll be working on the rest of my life. The wreckage of my past, and the character defects I developed. I'm far from the goals I've set, to be a better disciple for my Lord Jesus Christ and for the people of this world and beyond.
Discipleship is not measured by how far we have already traveled, but by the direction our heart keeps turning. Each of us carries wreckage from the past and patterns we wish we could undo, yet Christ never asked us to arrive perfected. He asked us to walk with Him, to trust His mercy more than our memories, and to let His grace shape what we cannot fix alone. The very ache to be better, to serve more faithfully, to love more like Him, is evidence that His Spirit is alive within us. As we continue forward, we do so not as finished saints but as willing disciples—learning, repenting, rising, and offering ourselves again to the Lord who never stops reaching for us. May this journey, with all its struggle and hope, draw us closer to Jesus Christ and make us instruments of His love in a world that desperately needs it.
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