Daily Devotion Sun. 19/3/2017
19/3/2017 LESSON 3
STEWARDSHIP OF INFLUENCE
Quarter’s Theme: UNDERSTANDING BIBLICAL STEWARDSHIP
Unit 2: Your Stewardship (Lessons 3- 6)
Suggested Hymns: G.H.B. 236
Devotional Reading: 2 TIM. 1:1-18
Topic For Adults
TOUCH LIVES POSITIVELY
Topic For Youths
LIVE OUT YOUR FAITH
Topic For Intermediates
DO GOOD UNTO OTHERS
Scripture Lesson
ROM. 1:16-17; 2 SAM. 23:15-17;
HEB. 11:1-12, 2-40; 2 TIM. 1:5; 1 COR. 11:1
MEMORY VERSE: Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. Gal. 6:10 (NKJV)
DAILY DEVOTIONAL READING
Sun. 19/3/2017
Use Your Influence Positively
Eph. 6:5-9; 1 Jn. 3:9-12
No man can survive in this world without others. Human relationship are interwoven. We have influence on one another directly or indirectly. To increase your influence, there is a need for you to develop, cultivate and expand your influence. Follow the rules between you and others as stipulated in Ephesians 6:1-9. The Masters and their subordinates should know that both are subject to God. There should be mutual relationship between the subject and the superior so that all their services would be done with pure mind and not with eye-service. The second passage read this morning speaks of two men – Diotrephes and Demetrius. Their names represent two opposite approach to life. John said Diotrephes loved to be in-charge and won’t submit to other’s leadership while Demetrius was spoken of as a good person. Are you using your influence like Diotrephes or Demetrius?
POINT OF EMPHASIS: Develop, cultivate and increase your influence so that you can have greater influence on others.
PRAYER POINT: Help me Lord Jesus not to misuse my influence on others.
BACKGROUND
Everything we are or possess is a gift from God. And God expects us to use them all for His glory and the benefit of mankind. This is what stewardship is all about. This lesson focuses on the positive use of our influence and is thus captioned ‘stewardship of influence’. God expects us to use our influence in both our secular and spiritual spheres to help other people. This lesson will show us how to do this.
NOTES ON THE TEXT
PART 1: INFLUENCE DEFINED (RUTH 1: 16, 17; 2 SAM. 23: 15-17)
Influence is not fame. A person can be famous without being influential. Neither is influence synonymous with wealth or affluence. That is why we have a lot of celebrities in the society today with no iota of positive influence on others.
What then is Influence? It is the power to affect how someone develops, acts, or thinks. While individual’s sphere of influence can differ measurably from one person to another, the fact is that everyone is influential in some tangible and measurable ways. God has created us all as people of influence. The subject of stewardship of influence is thus one that concerns everyone. It becomes more especially significant as how we use and manage our influence can spell the difference between success and failure, for us and for those whose lives we affect.
In the first passage, the influence of Naomi on Ruth, her daughter-in-law, was so great that Ruth decided to risk an uncertain future in order to be with Naomi. In the second passage, the three mighty men of David broke through the camp of Philistines at a great risk to their lives when David expressed his desire for a drink. Both Ruth and the three mighty men showed exceptional loyalty largely because of the influence that Naomi and David had on them respectively.
PART 2: PEOPLE OF INFLUENCE IN THE SCRIPTURES (HEB. 11: 1-12, 32-40; 2 TIM. 1:5)
The Scriptures and contemporary history are replete with examples of people who influenced others positively or negatively. Hebrews Chapter 11 catalogues the names of some prominent biblical figures: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Jacob, Moses, Rahab, etc. Many New Testament personalities were also positively influential in their generation. Aside from the popular examples of the apostles of Christ, others like Lois, Eunice (grandmother and mother of Timothy respectively), Lydia (Acts 16:14-15) readily come to mind here.
These people influenced their families and environments by their words and actions, and more especially by their faith in God which they lived out in their daily lives. They simply obeyed the scriptural commands to love God and love their neighbours and as a result used their influence for good in their communities. In doing this, they became the salt and the light of their world (Matt. 5:13, 16).
Sadly, however, a lot of Christians, rather than influencing the world, are themselves being influenced by the world in the way they think, dress, act, talk, and tell jokes, etc. God does not want you to be a thermometer, which just reflects the heat of the culture; but He wants you to be a thermostat that controls the heat of the culture. He wants you to be the influencing force.
PART 3: STEPS TO BECOMING A POSITIVE INFLUENCE (1 COR. 11:1)
God expects us to positively influence our world (Heb. 6: 12; 10: 23-25). This will help to counter the growing number of bad influences in the world and even in the Church (1 Cor.5:1-13; 2 Tim. 3:1-5).
For this to happen, let us consider three things that the Bible enjoins us to do:
- Recognise your influence: The truth is that everybody has influence. You influence people all around you all the time. Anybody you come in contact with on a daily basis through the day you have a potential to influence through everything you say or do not say, and everything you do or fail to do.
- Exercise your influence: You have to exercise your influence by using it positively. You can do this through these five simple ways: The first of these any of us could do. The last of them, might cost you your life.
- By smiling at people: Our congregation should be a smiling congregation. Visitors watch our countenance to see the type of people we are. We must intentionally learn to smile. (Prov. 15:30 (NIV).
- By being sympathetic towards others: We are to show emotional support, encouragement and care for people in our lives. (2 Cor. 1:4 (NCV)
- By serving people. It takes some effort to serve people; but the yield is bounteous. In God’s economy the greater you serve someone the greater influence you have in their lives. The more you serve others, the more influence you’ll have (I Cor. 9:19, Matt.20:26).
- By speaking up. “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.” (KJV) We become a people of influence when we speak up for God and for good. If you claim to be a Christian don’t hide it. Don’t try to be some kind of secret agent Christian. Don’t hide your faith. (Ps. 107:2; Ezek. 33:1-6; Prov. 31:8-9). Edmund Burke once said, “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing”.
- By Sacrificing: By our sacrifice we can exercise our influence. Without a doubt, the most influential person in human history was Jesus Christ, and that resulted from His ultimate sacrifice. (Heb.9:14) Without any doubt, the second greatest and most influential person in human history would be the Apostle Paul. (Phil. 2:17)There are some for whom God has ordained to pay the ultimate sacrifice. But for most Christians, we are to make those common sacrifices in our everyday life. It is the small sacrifices of being unselfish in everyday life that make the greatest impact on this world. (Heb. 13:16)
- You must maximise your influence: That means do your best to develop, cultivate and expand your influence. When you do this, you will be able to help more people and also possibly bring more people to Jesus. (Eph. 5:16; Col. 4:5)
CONCLUSION
Whether in the church, family, neighbourhood or workplace, God expects you to be a great influence for good. This will happen not only when you preach the gospel with your lips or plant churches in every corner of your towns and cities. Though these are also very important, becoming a solution to practical issues people are facing, being honest and fair to all, especially to the less-privileged; rescuing and defending the homeless and the hopeless; helping the poor and needy within the church, your community and in the world at large as God gives the opportunity to assume a more important dimension.
It is only when our presence affects people positively that our absence can pain them greatly. The big question you should ask is, If you leave your church or neighbourhood today, how many people will miss you, and for what reason? Remember God’s words: “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good to all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith” (Gal. 6:10).
QUESTIONS
- Explain, in your own words, what you understand by ‘stewardship’.
- Mention some people of positive influence in the Bible.
- Mention some people that have positively influenced your life.
- Mention practical ways you could practise stewardship of influence in your community.
- Explain what the following statement means to you: “Your life is an extension of other people.”
