Whether you realize it or not, you are a person of tremendous influence! You are affecting the people around you even in the most subtle ways. You are setting standards and promoting change everywhere you go. Just like a stone tossed into the water creates an automatic ripple, your life ripples out and has increasing influence on those around you.
Influence is simply defined as the power to produce an effect without an apparent exertion. That means that just by living your daily life, you are producing an effect. People who don't understand their full value and live without focus or purpose set an example that allows others to rationalize living the same way. But if you go out determined to live at your best, you are raising the standard. You are being a leader and influencing others in a way that pleases God.
Scripture says that we are the salt of the earth. Salt affects the taste of your food. It doesn't have to try, it just does. It also makes a person thirsty. When you live your life the way God intends, you improve the world around you and make people thirsty for a higher level of living.
Know today that you are never too young or too old to influence and inspire the world around you. Let that truth sink down deeply into your heart. Instill it into your children and the children around you. Let them know they have value and influence. Let them know that they matter to you, to God, and to the world around them. Be a person of influence by instilling value and purpose into the next generation and encourage others to be all that God has called them to be!
"You are the salt of the earth…" (Matthew 5:13, NIV)