My Daily Devotional

We Can Influence Others

“And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.”
Mark 9:30

People are so easy influenced by the actions of other people, and children are especially vulnerable to be influenced by their peers and parents. I know personally the influence my grandfather had on me as I grew up, as I wanted to be just like him, and still do. The things he did, the respect he was shown, and the way he lived his life are things that I would like to master in my own life. It is extremely important to think and realize that our actions and behaviors can influence others around us that might be looking to see how we react in certain situations. In the scripture above Jesus’ point is clear: to cause even those whom we might consider to be the least of believers to sin will bring serious judgment on us. I can remember going to a hospital dinner years ago with my wife. There were several couples at our table who worked with us, and everyone was having a glass of wine with their dinner. It is very rarely that we will drink wine with our dinner, but since everyone else was having some we had a small glass. For several days thereafter almost everyone mentioned the fact that we had wine with our dinner, as they had never seen us drink before. There had always been a small doubt in their minds that this may not be right, but when they saw us drinking the wine this took their doubt away. I am not saying that it is a sin to drink a glass of wine, but using this as an example how our actions can influence others. We all need to be careful in our actions when we are around people, and make sure that they would be acceptable in the sight of God, as people watch what we do and a bad action on our part could influence them to sin.