Real Influence
- Diane Canada
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Updated: 12 hours ago
One of the most tired words in our modern culture today is "Influencer". It usually refers to a person so rich and famous that people line up to see what they will be wearing or having for breakfast today. (Eye roll inserted here.)
But how do we influence a culture for Jesus when people just want to be their own God? They don't want anybody telling them what to do, least of all Jesus. They're looking for any excuse to discredit Christianity, and there is no shortage of "Christians" in their spiritual infancy helping to do just that.
Last week, I watched a Christian leave a wake of destruction within a family I care about. After watching this play out, it became evident that what she really needs is to feel valuable. She gave in to some harmful behavior, and it all blew up all around her, having the opposite outcome she had hoped for.
Spiritual infancy is the #1 thing that repels people from Christianity, I believe. When our faith walk doesn't demonstrate what we profess to believe, then we need to question the depth of our faith. When we deepen our "relationship" with Jesus, our motives change, and so does our behavior.
The Fruit of the Spirit ripens in us because we understand our true value and the value of others, so we are able to genuinely walk out Love, Patience, Kindness, Gentleness, Humility, Peace, and Self-Control.
It's not something we mimic, only for the mask to eventually slip and people to say, "Ah, ha...another hypocritical Christian". No, it's something that we are able to do consistently, under any circumstance, with the help of the Holy Spirit. We cannot do this in our own strength...but we can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens us. We become steady and known by others for that steadiness.
When we love Jesus so much that we would never want to represent Him poorly, when we're more interested in living for an audience of One than any attention or applause from people, and when we're leading our lives daily with that ripening Fruit of the Spirit, then we can know we're influencing people...Real Influence...the only kind that matters for all of eternity.
Watch the full Podcast episode on Real Influence where we dig deep on this topic! May it bless you today and help you more than you expect, in Jesus' name.
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