The question is not, “Will we be influenced?” but, “Who_ _will we be influenced by?” We’re all influenced by others. And ultimately, who we allow to influence us will affect the course of our life and the person we become.
There’s a saying, “Show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future,” and there’s a lot of truth to that statement. The people we allow to have a voice in our lives have the capacity to affect us in profound ways—for good or for ill. And since this applies to all of us, it’s important that we choose carefully.
We may be influenced by people we see throughout the week, or by those we only know from a distance. Whether we know them personally or not, it’s the ones we give our time and attention to who will have the most impact. And this applies even to those who are long gone. Through books, for instance, we can learn from those we’ve never met. And as we spend time learning from them, considering their words and their lives, we too can begin to bear the mark of their influence.
So, who are we being influenced by? Are we putting our focus and attention on those we can learn from, and those we genuinely want to be be influenced by? Or do we need to be more intentional about who we give our time and attention?
Because all of us will be influenced by someone. It’s just a matter of whether we’re choosing to be influenced in a direction we really want to go.