Organizing the Inside – Day 118 Observe Your Influence

December 30, 2011 at 10:30 am · Filed under Encouragement, Inspiration, Leadership, Relationship, Wisdom, Women's Ministry and tagged: Book of Genesis, Christianity, Garden of Eden, Religion and Spirituality

1Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die?’” 4“You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5“For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom; she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. ~Genesis 3:1-6

Influence as defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary means: to sway, the act or power of producing an effect without apparent force or direct authority.

As women we have a great deal of influence. God has given us various assets that are meant to be used to bring glory to man, which ultimately glorifies God.

Eve used her influence in the Garden of Eden.
What she did with her influence did not glorify God. Christ is the head of the Church and man is the head of woman; this is God’s divine order. Although within the divine order of God, women may not lead from a position of authority, we certainly do lead from a place of influence. Men look to women for support, for our intuition, for our insight, for our gifts, for our ability to organize, and facilitate important matters, for our innate ability to sense danger, for our ability to nurture, for our instinctive ability to sense when others are hurting and men look to women because of our ability to influence. There is nothing wrong with men looking to us for help, this is our role as women. We have to be mindful however, that influence can easily be confused with manipulation, so exercise caution and be guided by the Spirit of Truth.

Influence is usually subtle.
The influence we have is usually quite subtle and I suspect if it wasn’t it more often than not may be rejected. Whether good or bad, positive or negative as women we influence other women and we have a tremendous amount of influence over men. This influence is something that God gave us and we may as well accept it and learn to understand it; for being ignorant about the power we have to influence others can be harmful to those around us. You must understand that as a woman what you say, how you act, what you do likely influences others much more than you think.

Here are some practical steps you can take to make sure you are using your God-given influence to glorify God and to help build His kingdom. Let’s face it, both men and women alike come to us as “influencers” for insight or just to get our feedback we must influence people in the right way.

Three lessons to learn by observing Eve’s mistakes:
1. Don’t allow yourself to entertain conversations with the devil. If and when he tries to speak to you about anything, recognize that his ultimate intent is to deceive you and get you to use your influence to manipulate others.  Do not spend any time reasoning with him. The enemy knows how important your influence is in the plan of God and he wants to deceive you into using it for evil and not good.

2. Don’t allow yourself to want something that clearly God has told you He didn’t want you to have. Eve spent time discussing the possibilities of what may happen if she ate the fruit. Why go there?  Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away.  James 1:14 To even consider the thought of disobeying God, is the first step in you actually going through with it. If God said no then, it is not an option. Don’t be tricked into contemplating sin.

3. Realize that the greater one lives in you. God has now given us the Holy Spirit who gives us power to withstand in the evil day. As God’s daughters we have power over evil.  I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.  Luke 10:19 Critical to the mission of kingdom building is doing your part as a woman of God; realize the power of God that is in you. Let the kingdom of God come first in your life and your heart, knowing that by doing so you will be in the best possible position to influence those around you in a godly way.

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