Influence: the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of someone or something, or the effect itself.
Making the grade
At the end of one year and the beginning of the next, it has become the trend for magazines and television shows to list and announce the people they consider to have had the biggest influence on society in the previous 12 months. I’m always interested to see the list of those honoured in these countdowns. Actors, sports people, politicians, musicians, business people, doctors and innovators. The diversity is widespread but each individual contributed something that, in someway, shaped the culture around them.
These lists are usually limited though. In a world of seven, or so, billion people a mere handful are recognized as making a meaningful mark. So what about the rest of us?
You may never break the Internet, discover the cure for anything or create a technology that changes the way we interact with each other but that doesn’t mean you are not a person of influence. Influence is about making a difference and having an effect on the people or situation around you and this is something that we all can achieve, regardless of education, career, background or position.
What does influence look like?
You could argue that my life is fairly small. My sphere is likewise, limited but even though I may not have a large reach I have the ability to have a great influence in the circumstances I currently inhabit. My life, my attitude and my action have a huge impact on my children. The relative influence I am able to exercise on their lives is monumental. Granted my existence may not change the world as we know it, but who I am and how I live will most certainly change their world and I’m the only person on the planet who can be me. You may not have children but the people who you regularly interact with; your family, your work colleagues, your friends and neighbours are all points of contact where you are able to make a difference, for better or for worse and you’re the only you there is.
Making a difference
God made each of us unique. We each have gifts and abilities that can be used to touch the lives of those around us and it’s through our relationships with others that very often we are able to have the most influence and make the most difference. You may not consider what you do to be terribly important or in anyway significant but don’t underestimate how important the smallest act of kindness, genuine display of care or sincere encourage can be.
In the New Testament Jesus told us that we should love one another as he loves us. Regardless of who you believe Jesus to be, he is without a doubt a person of enormous influence and at the heart of who and what he is, is love.