Tuesday, September 22: 3John- Who influences you?.

Some times the simple things are the most profound. John’s straightforward advice to his friend Gaius connected with me. Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God (11).

Seems like this is a no brainer, and really it is but being reminded of basic wisdom from time to time is healthy. I know it is for me anyway.

Do not imitate what is evil but what is good…

Who is it that I imitate? Oh, I have friends, mentors and people I admire and I know they have had influences on me. Choosing friends and those I hang with regularly is important and certainly impacts who I am and how I live.

But as I sit this morning, I also realize that media has a huge influence on me, partly because it has a huge influence on my society. And as much as I want to believe that I can live ‘beyond and above’ my society (which hopefully I am able to do in part anyway), I also know that my society and the area in which I live has a huge impact on me whether I like it or not.  When I travel in the developing world, I see how strong a grip the materialism of my world has on me.

Now not everything in my world is evil and even materialism isn’t evil but my world does influence me.

I began this foray thinking about influence and I don’t want to get too far afield. Media –radio, TV, internet, movies - have a huge influence, too. One small item, the houses portrayed in most movies and TV shows are a step up from real life. That subtly causes me to think about how my house can (even should) be bigger, better, nicer, etc. Influence...

So John says do not imitate what is evil but what is good. The first step to doing (imitating) something is being influenced to do so…

This morning the Lord is impressing upon me to consider the things that are influencing me. Are they doing so for good or for evil?  I have to think more about this.

Lord, it is fascinating how a simple word launched my thoughts this morning. Stay with me, Lord, and help me process this Word from You. Through Christ, my Lord, I pray. Amen.

 

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