I heard it best said, "what did they cause you to do, that you would not have done, if, they haden't been around". By Ed Young of course.
Are you easily influenced by people? Do you get caught up in the moment and just, "go with the flow"? What are the people that you have in your life influencing you to do? Do they bring out the best in you, or the worst?
"Maybe some of us need to move away from those that bring out the worst"!
Do they cause you to say and do things that you would not normally do if they were not around to have an influence?
So I started thinking, all of us in our lives, on a daily basis have the awesome opportunity to influence people. Some of us may have larger circles of influence than others, but still, we all influence someone. (Our kids, our co-workers, our families, our friends, or our neighbors.)
I tell my kids all the time, that we either influence people in a negative way, or we influence them in a positive way. Well that goes with everyone that God has given us in our lives. Not just my kids. I, on a personal note, really had to do some "soul searching this past week. And in one of the areas in my life I had to ask myself, as a child of Jesus, am I influencing people that I have in my life, in a positive or negative way?
You know, influence does not come in the form of just words. It also has actions to it. So, I asked myself, "self", how am I influencing people by the way I treat my wife? Or how I handle a disrespectful moment? Or just playing with my kids? Or talking to a store clerk? etc.
Are the words that come out of my mouth and the actions I show the world on a daily basis a reflection of who I am and what Jesus has done for me? I don't know about you, but when I am gone from this earth, I want people to say, there was a man who loved Jesus, and it showed by how he treated his family, and how he treated other people.
So how about you? Are you influencing people in a positive way, or a negative one? When you are with someone in public, would they be ashamed to say, you are a Christ follower?
Praise Our Lord, I am a work in progress....Jesus is still working in my life, particularily in this area. Our last study with Beth Moore was on patience, which talked about people that are in our life that tend to bring out the worst in us. She noted that God brings people in our life to work on areas that need polishing ( whether pride, selfishness, etc.). In the Bible it talks about working death in us but life in another. I do believe that there are circumstances and people we should move somewhat away from but all the while showing JESUS. That is the neat thing he is working all the while and while we keep these people and circustances in prayer he shows us how we should respond. Believe me at this point of my life God is really showing me areas that HE is chipping away, but also continues to remind me how very much HE loves me. Thank you Jesus.
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May, 2008
of course. 
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