INFLUENCE is something each of us possesses. We could liken it to our shadow. We can never catch up with it, yet we are diffusing it day by day. It goes far in front of us, it follows us, it is on every side of us. It follows us from the cradle to the grave, and after we are entered into our graves it lives on to bless or curse the world.
A Powerful Talent
One of the most powerful talents possessed by each man, woman, and child is influence.
The influence of a young person is a great power for good or for evil. Every person possesses and exerts an influence of his own. The evil that men do lives on after them; so also does a good influence. The influence of true Christian youth is one of the most powerful things in the world, and we should do our best to improve it and make it what it ought to be.
For what will God hold us accountable?
If each one realized his accountability to God for his personal influence, he would in no case be an idler, but would cultivate his ability and train every power that he might serve Him who has purchased him with His own blood.—Messages to Young People, p. 188.
This is a responsibility from which we cannot free ourselves. Our words, our acts, our dress, our deportment, even the expression of the countenance, has an influence.—Ibid., p. 417.
The results of our influence only eternity will tell. By our every action and word we are leading someone either to or away from Christ. We will have to give an account in the great judgment day for the influence that we are continually exerting on others.
How greatly does our influence affect others?
No person whom we meet along life's pathway is exactly the same as he was before we met him.
Individually we are connected with our fellow men, a part of God's great whole, and we stand under mutual obligations. No man can be independent of his fellow men; for the well-being of each affects others. It is God's purpose that each shall feel himself necessary to others' welfare, and seek to promote their happiness.—Christ's Object Lessons, p. 339.
The firm purpose you may possess in carrying out good principles will have an influence to balance souls in the right direction.—Messages to Young People, p. 125.
If they would have a true and saving influence, let them live out their profession. . . . Then a holy influence will be shed upon all, and all will take knowledge of them that they have been with Jesus. Unbelievers will see that the truth we profess has a holy influence, and that faith in Christ's coming affects the character of the man or woman. If any ivish to have their influence tell in favor of the truth, let them live it out, and thus imitate the humble Pattern.—Ibid., p. 128.
Things That Influence Us
How does our parents' influence affect us?
The restoration and uplifting of humanity begins in the home. The work of parents underlies every other. . . . The well-being of society, the success of the church, the prosperity of the nation, depend upon home influence.—Ministry of Healing, p. 349.
The books we read influence us.
Satan knows that to a great degree the mind is affected by that upon which it feeds. He is seeking to lead both the youth and those of mature age to read story-books, tales, and other literature. The readers of such literature become unfitted for the duties lying before them. They live an unreal life, and have no desire to search the Scriptures, to feed upon the heavenly manna. The mind that needs strengthening is enfeebled, and loses its power to study the great truths that relate to the mission and work of Christ,—truths that would fortify the mind, awaken the imagination, and kindle a strong desire to overcome as Christ overcame.—Messages to Young People, pp. 271, 272.
The books we read make an impression on our minds, influence our characters, and affect our whole lives. We become what our minds feed upon, therefore we should carefully choose the books we read. The thoughts and lives of the men whose books we read and feed upon mold our minds for good or for bad.
Our associations affect us.
It is inevitable that the youth will have associates, and they will necessarily feel their influence. There are mysterious links that bind souls together, so that the heart of one answers to the heart of another. . . . This association may be a blessing or a curse. The youth may help and strengthen one another, improving in deportment, in disposition, in knowledge; or, by permitting themselves to become careless and unfaithful, they may exert an influence that is demoralizing.—Counsels to Parents and Teachers, p. 220.
The Bible asks, "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" It is said that "Evil communications corrupt good manners." Our associates not only influence us but we unconsciously imitate their words and actions. Therefore, whether we want to or not, whether we are conscious of it or not, we are not only influencing but are also being influenced by all those with whom we associate. Thus it behooves us to be very careful of the friends we keep. A true Christian and an infidel, or a non-Christian, cannot be good friends. A thief and an honest man cannot be good friends. What one does influences the other. "Birds of a feather flock together" is a true saying.
Christ's life influences ours.
The life of Christ was an ever-widening, shoreless influence, an influence that bound Him to God and to the whole human family. Through Christ, God has invested man with an influence that makes it impossible for him to live to himself. Individually we are connected with our fellow men, a part of God's great whole.—Christ's Object Lessons, p. 339.
What a man is has more influence than what he says. The officers who were sent to Jesus came back with the report that never man spoke as He spoke. But the reason for this was that never man lived as He lived. Had His life been other than it was, He could not have spoken as He did.—Ministry of Healing, p. 469.
Example is one of the most powerful influences in the whole world. You just cannot kill it or erase it. Christ lived on earth 1900 years ago, and the power of His influence is still strong in the earth. It has widened and widened until it has reached us. His influence has affected every one of us. Those who yield to it become the true children of God and grow more and more like Him.
How Extensive Is Our Influence?
Influence works in two ways.
Each person is not only shedding his influence on others but is at the same time being influenced by others.
The humblest and poorest of the disciples of Jesus can be a blessing to others. They may not realize that they are doing any special good, but by their unconscious influence they may start waves oi blessing that will widen and deepen, and the blessed results they may never know until the day of final reward.—Steps to Christ, p. 83.
Moses was dead, but his influence did not die with him. It was to live on, reproducing itself in the hearts of his people. The memory o£ that holy, unselfish life would long be cherished, with silent, persuasive power moulding the lives even of those who had neglected his living words. As the glow of the descending sun lights up the mountain peaks long after the sun itself has sunk behind the hills, so the works of the pure, the holy, and the good, shed light upon the world long after the actors themselves have passed away. Their works, their words, their example, will forever live. "The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance."—Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 481.
The influence of a Christian is powerful.
Let us remember that a Christlike life is the most powerful argument that can be advanced in favor of Christianity, and that a cheap Christian character works more harm in the world than the character of a worldling. Not all the books written can serve the purpose of a holy life. Men will believe, not what the minister preaches, but what the church lives. Too often the influence of the sermon preached from the pulpit is counteracted by the sermon preached in the lives of those who claim to be advocates of truth.
It is the purpose of God to glorify Himself in His people before the world. He expects those who bear the name of Christ to represent Him in thought, word, and deed. Their thoughts are to be pure and their words noble and uplifting, drawing those around them nearer the Saviour. The religion of Christ is to be interwoven with all that they do and say. Their every business transaction is to be fragrant with the presence of God.—Testimonies, vol. 9, p. 21.
What comparison could be used to illustrate the refreshing influence of a true Christian's life?
The heart that receives the word of God is not as a pool that evaporates, not like a broken cistern that loses its treasure. It is like the mountain stream, fed by unfailing springs, whose cool, sparkling waters leap from rock to rock, refreshing the weary, the thirsty, the heavy-laden. It is like a river constantly flowing, and as it advances, becoming deeper and wider, until its life-giving waters are spread over all the earth. The stream that goes singing on its way, leaves behind its gift of verdure and fruitfulness. The grass on its banks is a fresher green, the trees have a richer verdure, the flowers are more abundant. . . .
So it is with the true child of God. The religion of Christ reveals itself as a vitalizing, pervading principle, a living, working spiritual energy. When the heart is opened to the heavenly influence of truth and love, these principles will flow forth again like streams in the desert, causing fruitfulness to appear where now are barrenness and dearth.—Prophets and Kings, pp. 233, 234.
What practical true-to-life comparison can be made between our shadow and our influence?
We each as children learned to make shadow pictures such as dogs, crosses, et cetera, on the walls with our hands. This we did by placing our hands between the wall and the light or lamp. When the sun was up in the daytime we noticed that whatever the direction of the sun from us, our shadows fell in the opposite direction.
At night as we approach a street light our shadows become long and drawn out behind us. Regardless of the direction of the light from us, our shadow is thrown in the opposite direction.
In order to have a shadow we must have a light. We can make our shadow long or short, broad or narrow, according to our position relative to the light.
God's Word is "a lamp" to our feet and "a light" to our path (Ps. 119:105). According to how we stand or how we relate ourselves to God's Word, our influence is cast. By reading and accepting God's Word and living in accordance with it, we are allowing it to shine upon us and upon our path. With God's Word as a light behind us, our influence stretches far and wide. When we meet others on life's highway the shadow of our influence will fall upon them for good.
