Who influences you the most? Who do you trust to speak into your life? Where do you get the information you base your decisions upon?

For some people, that would be their peers. For others, it would be social media. Those who listen to and watch a lot of television may be very heavily influenced by those programs they choose to listen to, including the nightly news. There are many influences, both positive ones as well as negative ones, that can cause us to make wise or not so wise decisions for our lives. We see examples every day of those who may have been influenced to do things that they might not otherwise have initiated on their own.

Parents and teachers are some of the stronger influencers for children. We hear stories of successful adults who credit their success to a supportive parent or teacher who believed that they had great potential. We see other examples of children from very broken family structures that have overcome adversity and gone on to lead healthy, productive lives. Perhaps someone influenced them positively so that they could change the direction their life was heading in. Most of us can also think of those individuals who appeared to have made very bad choices for their lives when they were given many opportunities to succeed. Others later in their lives realized they made bad choices and were able to reverse those choices and turn their lives around.

You have probably heard the statement “garbage in, garbage out.” What you eat may affect your overall health, but what you partake of mentally, emotionally and spiritually will also affect the outcome of your life. A good example is a child growing up in a home where bad language is just part of the normal atmosphere. The child will use those same words with no filter out in a public situation. Many a parent has been embarrassed by what comes out of their child’s mouth! How much more when they see and hear things that influence their thinking and actions either positively or negatively. These things will have greater consequences if they become a habit or lifestyle.

Not only are we influenced by any number of the scenarios, some of which I mentioned above, but we also have to realize that each one of us also impacts those who are in our own sphere of influence. Yes, we are all influencers, no matter how small we think our circle is. The way you live your life affects those whose lives you touch.

I can remember several not so pleasant memories of my younger days where I influenced those who knew me in a very negative and sometimes consequential way. I am not proud of those memories and am grateful that the Lord has extended His forgiveness to me. Thankfully several of those situations did not end up with the tragic results that could have happened.

It has been my desire and prayer that I could be a positive influence on others, leading by example. We are called by the Lord to be salt (Matthew 5:13) and light to the world. What does that mean? What does it look like for someone to be “salty”? Salt enhances the flavor of something. Salt is a great preservative, keeping something from spoiling for a period of time. Salt can be used to sooth a bee sting and is a powerful antibacterial substance, so it has healing properties. Salt can melt ice in the winter in cold countries. It is used in the manufacture of soap, so you could say it has cleansing properties. When we are salty in our lifestyles we can create thirst (for the living water of life). It is used metaphorically to signify permanence, loyalty, durability, fidelity, usefulness, value and purification. In the book of Numbers, a salt covenant is described and likened unto a perpetual covenant.

Jesus is called the light of the world, but He has also called each of us to let our light shine into the dark places of humanity. Just a little light in a very dark place creates enough ability to see what was once hidden. Our lives can light the way for someone else to see enough to come out of the darkness and into His marvelous light. Light in the scriptures represents holiness, goodness, knowledge, wisdom, grace, hope and God’s revelation.

My challenge to each of us today is to reflect on where we get our inspiration for doing life. If we are partaking of things that are influencing our decisions and lifestyle in a negative way, we need to decide if we are going to continue going in that direction or if we will choose with God’s help, to turn things around for our own benefit and also the benefit of others. When we do, then we can become a positive influencer as well. We can become the salt and light that this world so desperately needs.