Scripture Anchor:
“He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.” Proverbs 13:20 KJV
Not everybody influencing you is standing in front of you. Some are on your screen, some are in your headphones, and some have never met you.
Yet their opinions accompany you into your decisions, relationships, beliefs, expectations, and responses. That makes ‘influence’ worth watching.
We often think carefully about who enters our homes while giving remarkably little thought to who repeatedly enters our minds.
When you listen long enough, ‘that’ something begins to sound normal. If you hear an opinion often enough, you can begin repeating it without examining whether it is true or not.
As you continually consume outrage, you may become angry about matters you had never even considered.
The continual consumption of suspicion eventually makes everybody begin looking suspicious.
And as you continually consume foolishness, discernment can become dull.
This is not an argument for isolation from the world. This is a call to pay attention to ‘influence’.
WHO HAS YOUR EAR?
Who shapes the way you think about God, marriage, family, money, the Church, other people, or yourself?
Who has become your unofficial counselor or mentor simply because you listen to them frequently?
Popularity does not equal wisdom nor does confidence equal truth.
A large platform does not equal spiritual authority, and somebody being a Christian does not automatically qualify that person to mentor you, or counsel you concerning every area of life.
Test what you hear against the Word of God; observe fruit, use wisdom, seek godly counsel, and retain responsibility for your own decisions.
APOSTOLIC CHARGE
1). Do not outsource your discernment.
2). Be especially careful when someone’s voice becomes so important that you stop examining what they say.
3). No human voice should become unquestionable.
4). Guard your ear.
5). Guard your mind.
6). Guard the voices you repeatedly permit to shape your perspective.
Because access to your attention can eventually influence your direction.
PRAYER
Father, thank You for sharpening my discernment concerning the voices that influence me.
Help me recognize truth, reject error, and refuse to surrender my judgment merely because a voice is popular, persuasive, familiar, or forceful.
Surround me with wise counsel, grant me the humility to receive correction and spiritual maturity to examine whatever I hear by Your Word.
I refuse confusion, unhealthy dependency, and undiscerning agreement.
My mind will be governed by truth.
In the matchless name of Jesus Christ. Amein.
PONDER THIS
Whose voice has more influence over your thinking than you realized?
Shalom,
Hephzibah Christly #TheSpiritualWarrior
