The Power of Influence

“Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.” Proverbs 13:20

One of my oldest daughter’s kindergarten friends was the daughter of her kindergarten teacher. One time when I went to her school, her teacher said to me, “I’m glad that my daughter likes hanging out with your daughter. She is a good influence.” That’s the kind of thing you like to hear when you are a mother.

As human beings, we have an incredible amount of influence. For years I worked with children in ministry. Many times I observed a particular child who was a natural-born leader. The children’s leader in me knew that this child had the potential to either lead others to a good place or to a bad place because of his or her influence. I would always tell the kids in my charge, “Be sure you are using your superpowers for good.”

Proverbs tells us that if you hang out with wise people you can become wise, but if you align yourself with fools you will get in trouble. We should always surround ourselves with three types of people. I like to think of them in terms of Pauls, Barnabases, and Timothys. The Pauls in your life are those whom you look up to, who can speak life into you and encourage you to be the best version of yourself. The Barnabases are those with whom you can just hang out and do life. The Timothys are those whom you can speak life into. If you surround yourself with Pauls, Barnabases, and Timothys, you’ll be wise and avoid trouble.