For today’s post I’m taking you back to a journal entry from last November when I began tossing the idea of this around in my head. I know I promised Esther but I moved her to tomorrow in order to deal with these two BIG questions. Influence is so Important and making our choices has a huge ripple effect that we are generally unaware of. We live in a world today where the common phrase is I “this is my________.” fill in the blank. we tend to be so self absorbed that we are blinded by the fact that ALL of our choices have consequences not just for us but for those around us.
Influence:What Is It?
well a quick visit to Dictionary.com tells us INFLUENCE is:
1. the capacity or power of persons or things to be a compelling force on or produce effects on the actions, behavior, opinions, etc., of others:
He used family influence to get the contract.
2.the action or process of producing effects on the actions, behavior, opinions, etc., of another or others:
Her mother’s influence made her stay.
3.a person or thing that exerts influence:
He is an influence for the good.
4. to exercise influence on; affect; sway:
to influence a person.
5.to move or impel (a person) to some action:
Outside factors influenced her to resign.
So Why Influence?
Well after last years study in my word for the year CONFIDWNCE (or God-fidence ) as I called it by the end of the year, I had come to realize these two concepts were closely related.You need God-fidence to radically influence others for Christ. You have to be solid on in who you are in Christ AND what He has called you to do. Does that mean you won’t struggle? Absolutely not! Because the reality go the matter is the, when you choose to be a Christian Influencer you get a big ole target on your back. we will see that over the next few days as we look at Esther.
I have a real desire for women to understand their influence and the power it has. When we make choices both in how we live and the words we speak it leaves a ripple effect and that ripple effect can cause positive or negative things to happen in other peoples lives….even people we may not see or know.
Introducing “Marie”
So to illustrate the very basic idea we are going to talk about my friend ….For the purposes of this blog post I am going to call her Marie.
Marie is the center director for our local pregnancy center. I love watching her work. She connects with our clients on an amazing level. They are within her circle of influence.
Marie has a choice as to the type of influence she is going to be on client A. I already said that Marie is amazing with the clients BUT what if she wasn’t. What would happen if Marie was critical and judgmental about what client A was going through. Well client A would go to her friends and influence them by saying something to the effect of “don’t go there, that center director is mean, she didn’t listen, she didn’t care and…..you know how it goes. BUT in reality Marie is not like that at all so the model keeps growing and as it grows Marie’s circle of influence grows. Whether it is positive or negative.
But as you can see in her circle of influence that the clients are not solely inside her circle because there are many other influences in that clients life….some good, some not so good while other influencers are awful.
Introducing Grumpy Gus and His Pals
Continue reading “Write 31 Days-Day 2- Influence: What and Why?”
