Every day we are influenced by many factors.
Family members, friends, co-workers, co-students, neighbors, clerks in a store, mail, email, social media, the news, books and magazines, food, exercise, Satan, and the list goes on, are ways the world influences us. It is often said, that we become like who or what influences us.
But God, in His amazing mercy and grace, has provided us with what we need to be influenced by Him, and there is no better influencer than our great God.
He has provided the Bible – His living and active word of life, His indwelling Holy Spirit, and other Christ followers as ways to influence us toward Godliness. These should be what shapes our character more than anything else in this world.
What is most influential in shaping your character? Is it God and His word, or is it the world?
You might think, “I live in this world, of course it is going to influence me in how I live”. But God doesn’t want it to be the dominate influence in our lives.
How do we keep from allowing the world’s influence to dominate our lives?
We purpose to make God the primary influence in our lives.
This happens when we ask Jesus to be our Lord and Savior. We need to be excited about the Gospel, because it is exciting!
We should admit we are sinners, in need of His salvation, because we are unable to pay God for the penalty for our sin. Jesus is the one and only way to be reconciled to our Creator and Heavenly Father: John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
When we come to that place of submitting ourselves to the Lord, through His Son, Jesus, He provides us with His indwelling Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 3:16: “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?”
The Holy Spirit works to draw us toward God as we read the Bible. John 6:44: “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.”
The Holy Spirit works to guide us away from the things of this world, and more deeply toward what honors God, providing us with an understanding of truth. John 14:17 “Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”
The more time we spend with God, in prayer as we read and study the Bible, the greater His influence is in our lives. As this happens, we increasingly lose interest in the allure of the world, and its influence diminishes.
There are warnings in the Bible about holding too closely to the ways and things of this world. The following are a few verses to consider:
Romans 12:2: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Ephesians 5:11: “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”
Matthew 16:26: “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?”
There are promises for people who hold tightly to God [Who is actually holding on to us]:
Isaiah 40:31: “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
Galatians 5:16: “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”
It is too easy to think that the people and things of this world should be our source of satisfaction. However, it doesn’t take long for us to truly recognize that is a lie. God alone is the One who is able to fill our hearts and souls with all we need. He created us. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He placed inside each person the desire to know and to love Him.
1 John 4:19 reminds us that we are unable to love on our own. It is God who first loved us, and He creates in those who follow Christ, the ability to love Him, and to love others.
The greater our love and commitment to God, the less our desire to be like the world. This may also result in the people of the world [those without a personal relationship with Jesus] rejecting us [1 John 3:1: “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”].
As this happens, it takes time for us to adjust to their rejection. But God, through His Holy Spirit, will help us not to retaliate, but to pray, and to continue to love them [Matthew 5:43-48: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?”]
The best role model for not allowing the world to be a dominant influence in our lives is Jesus.
Jesus submitted to His Father, even by giving His life willingly on the cross. [We may not be able to pay sin’s penalty, but we can tell others about the One who did.]
Jesus loved people, in action. [We can also love people in tangible ways.]
Jesus provides for our every need. [We can share with others how He has provided for us.]
Jesus did much more, and that is why we must spend time in the Bible every day, gaining insight into His character and actions.
By following Jesus’ example, we can become more like Him, and as that happens, the things of this world dim in the light of His glory and grace.
God will continuously shape our character, so that we are increasingly drawn to His ways, and not the ways of this world.
We must maintain vigilance in our relationship with the Lord, so that we don’t allow room for the world’s allure to creep into our lives. Remaining connected with others who are pursuing God helps in this process. Serving the Lord, as we obey Him, adds to our spiritual growth.
Pray. Seek God. Read His word, obey Him, and keep doing this!
Today, what might we need to do so that we are less influenced by the world, and more influenced by God, so that we can be positive influencers for others?
Please contact me at: ButGodCares@gmail.com, if I can help you in your pursuit of God, so that you can be an influencer for Christ.
Living for Jesus, Donna
P.S. If this has helped you, please feel free to share it with others!
Note: If the verses for Bible references do not appear when you hover over them, go directly to the website, and they should appear for you.
Copyright 2023 Donna Shappy All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other – without the prior permission of the author.