We hear that a lot these days. Influencers. And it\u2019s forever true. We are in the business of influencing. It starts in our homes, our jobs, our casual friendships, our social media posts, the groups we are a part of and on and on. And influencing goes two ways \u2013 either positively or negatively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I could never get a great toss, but my grandsons aced the challenge of tossing a rock or pebble across a body of water. They were delighted with the resulting ripples. And I think if ripples spread when a rock is thrown into the water, how do the words we say and the things we do affect the people around us? And then, how do those people affect the people around them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I laughed when I saw this comment on my FB timeline yesterday morning: \u201cYou are too beautiful to be called a wife; too sexy to be left behind. I guess you are the second woman God created after Eve. You have an interesting profile, and it really caught my heart. Please send me a friend request if you don\u2019t mind. Thanks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I quickly deleted it, but it had a ripple effect as I shared it with my children and my grands in my early morning text message, I send them each day. \u201cThought you would appreciate that I\u2019m the second woman created after Eve! LOL! And Papa really messed up because I\u2019m too sexy to be left behind! Lord, have mercy! I sure do love you all so much!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 5th grandchild responded: \u201cWHATBHAHAHA, Nana! The hot stuff on Facebook!\u201d LOL!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this blog, I\u2019d more like to think about those unkind or negative things we might say to someone, and they feel badly and then they might be unkind and negative, too. The unkindness and negativity spreads. We want to spread good things that honor God rather than bad things that don\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Remember the story of Daniel and the lions\u2019 den (Daniel 6)? Although Daniel lived in a godless culture, he impacted nations, kings, wise men, and his friends by living a life that pleased the Lord. His ripples of influence expanded exponentially, leading to an impact he never could have predicted \u2014 one that extends to my family and yours almost 3,000 years later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conversely, when we reflect God\u2019s character through the gifts and opportunities He gives us, we\u2019re like rocks tossed into a pond, producing ripple effects that inspire those in our sphere of influence and beyond to think and act differently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We don\u2019t have to be famous, rich, or successful. We don\u2019t need an impressive degree or lots of followers on social media. A specific age, nationality, social status, or personality is not a requirement. We have the power to positively influence others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I believe within the heart of everyone is the desire to be influential. We can engage our God-given opportunities for positive influence. I believe we have the unparalleled opportunity to influence this generation and those to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God uses ordinary people like you and me to star in extraordinary \u201cGod stories\u201d \u2014 real-life narratives of purpose and influence. Although we\u2019re all imperfect and inconsistent, we can still be influential because of God\u2019s grace and power in and through us. As Jesus said: \u201cIf you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing\u201d (John 15:5).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lord, please help us accomplish extraordinary things for you. You were and are an influencer. Just look at the world you created and the many of us who continue to have a ripple effect on your children! Please continue to give us the courage to speak into people\u2019s lives and make an eternal impact! Through Christ our Lord, we pray! Amen!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We hear that a lot these days. Influencers. And it\u2019s forever true. We are in the business of influencing. It starts in our homes, our jobs, our casual friendships, our social media posts, the groups we are a part of and on and on. And influencing goes two ways \u2013 either positively or negatively. I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[24301,24302],"tags":[1210,1769,24298,17356,4631,973,24300,40,24299,8897,24297,24296],"class_list":["post-16512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reflect-gods-character","category-ripple-effect","tag-blog","tag-christian","tag-daniel-and-the-lions-den","tag-eternal-impact","tag-influencer","tag-influencers","tag-influential","tag-inspiration","tag-reflect-gods-character","tag-ripple-effect","tag-ripples","tag-tossing-a-rock"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16512"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16512\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16521,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16512\/revisions\/16521"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}