uNDeR ThE InFlUEnCe

Who are you influencing? Who can unduly influence you?

I don't think we realize how easily influenced we really are. Can you honestly say that sitting home late one night, watching TV, and a huge burger dripping with American cheese, jalapenos, Ketchup, and pickles didn't entice you and make you want to go grab one somewhere? Or you experienced the same urge after watching an ice cream commercial or perhaps even an ad for an ice cold beer if you're a beer drinker? We are susceptible to suggestions like these. We are influenced to vote a certain way. We are influenced to watch a particular TV program. Or subscribe to a certain podcast. You don't have to be a drinker and driver of a motor vehicle to be UNDER THE INFLUENCE.

Ever noticed how your volume instantly increases when the person you're talking to begins to speak louder and louder? Whether they have difficulty hearing you or perhaps they are approaching you in an aggressive tone?

How about when you converse with someone who lives in your hometown after you've long moved away and you pick up the "local accent" almost instantly?

Does your head bob and your feet tap when you hear music from your past that was significant at one time or another? It's funny how we catch ourselves and go "Wow, I didn't realize I was doing that."

Those are small examples of how easily we can be influenced by external and even internal stimuli.

Proverbs 4:23 reminds us to guard your hearts with all diligence. We can have foreign elements enter our hearts and not even notice that we've been invaded. 

I'm going to ask that set of questions again and add a third question for your consideration. Who are you influencing? Who can unduly influence you?

Do you consider yourself a leader?

If the people you lead don't look like you or can't testify of your influence and how it has changed them, your leadership AND your vertical relationship could be brought into question.

Be careful of chasing promotions, pulpits and positions. You might not be ready to influence people like you thought.

If the mainstream media, popular culture, and whatever's trending on the Internet affect and even creates an imbalance in how you think, act, and respond to those around you, there could be a problem there that needs to be addressed before you take your "leadership campaign" on the road. 

We are possessors of great potential, personal power, and influence. We have it in droves but it's imperative that we know how to use it. We have the power to be divisive, destructive, and deviant or we can be encouraging, re-builders, life-givers, supportive, and beacons of hope. The question is not if we have it but more how will we choose to use it. 

Remember that game we played when we were little when we would stand in the middle of the street and look up to the sky and point randomly? Coming from a big city, it worked really well then. LOL. Before long, there would be a small crowd standing around you saying "Yeah, I see it." I'm laughing because I didn't see anything to start with. I just wanted to have fun with my little "social experiment". See what I mean? Guess what? It actually still works today.