We talked Wednesday about the people you will naturally reach. These are the folks who are naturally attracted to you. And this is also the opportunity you have for influence.
Be sure, you have the chance to influence other people. Those people you naturally attract, you have just as much chance to influence them as they have to influence you. Unfortunately, too many people choose to be influenced rather than to influence. But we were made to influence, not to be influenced.
So how do you influence those you reach? Where do you want to aim them?
The goal in influencing those you reach is to be an influencer, not an influenza. I know that’s a silly statement, but the term influenza literally comes from the word influence in the Latin.
When you have the flu, you get pretty much the same symptoms. Everyone’s sneezing, soar throat, shivers… And everyone’s spreading the same thing. It becomes a wicked spiral that makes everyone act and sound the same. It becomes its own echo chamber of sorts.
That’s not what you want to do. Your goal as an influencer is to encourage individuality in your friends. Encourage risk. Encourage uniqueness. Encourage breaking free from the norm. That’s the sort of influence you need to be to those you naturally reach. That’s what God is calling you to do.
The beautiful thing about becoming this type of influencer is the principle of sewing and reaping. What you invest into other people’s lives, you ultimately get back. It’s a principle God set into place, and every area of your life will follow that principle.
So if you invest encouragement and individuality into those you reach, it’s ultimately what you’ll receive in return.
God created us to live and work within community—not so that we could all be the same, but so that we could encourage others and give them the courage to be who God created them to be.
That’s your role in others’ lives. Are you filling that role?
