Ok so this review the WHOLE book thing..

So this is my last post about the book. I know I only did 3, but hey I tried. The Life of a nursing student only allows for so much. (ALthough I am probably majorly violating the RELIABILITY chapter in this book). Can't even follow through on this little commitment... WOW, well as you can see I have definitely got my reality check.

So the last chapter that I wanted to review was the Chapter on Influence... and that it goes both ways. The way women influence people and the way we are influenced is the double edge sword of this topic. I think this topic is important because we often don't know how we are being influenced if we are not aware of the many ways in which we are just soaking things in blindly. But influencing someone is just as important...

Leading someone astray from their walk with the Lord is a sin that God commands people to be put to death for in both the New and Old Testament. We may think that this act of sin is not as serious as other sins, but the reality is that ALL sin is SERIOUS. We are convinced by the world that sin is not that big of a deal because everyone around us is doing it, but as Christians we know better.
Matthew 18:6

I think it is easy for women to make friends with people who "need help". We often think we are helping a person who is not pursuing the Lord whole-heartedly by hanging out with them and hoping to be a good influence ( but we are probably just passively sitting there instead of speaking truth), when really we could be hurting ourselves. Who you hang out with will influence you. In proverbs 12:26 it says, "A Righteous man is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray." A Wise Women chooses friends carefully.... Just because we are Christians does not mean we are immune to sin or negative influence. Sin is still our nature and we are still fighting against it. The author of this book refers to paul warning Christians that we will be more deceived by hypocritical Christians rather than those who openly reject JEsus. CRAZY. I know that I am prone to thinking that people won't influence me negatively even if I hang out with them but we are warned against that as well. "Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall." 1 COr 10:12

Wise women will make sure their best friends are Wise women. We are influencers of relationships as women and our greatest asset can be "respectful and pure " behavior. We don't need to even say a word. If you want to influence someone positively, you;ll focus on changing YOUR behavior, not THEIRs.

How hard is it to remember that GOd is in control of influence? It is hard sometimes when we are trying to control our own lives. Ultimately we know that he will change someones heart and so we should rely on prayer. We should not use our words, crying, nagging, making demands to get a posistive reaction, rather humility in few words, wisdom and knowing that God will ultimately change a heart.

**It is easy to try and be friends with everyone, but I have been challenged to choose my friends wisely and select positive influence around me. So that I may be encouraged to rely on God and not myself for being a positive influence. I hope that this was a good reminder for you!

Remember that I am simply picking outu a couple key points from this AWESOME book: "Girl Gone Wise in a World Gone Wild" by MAry KAssian! I highly recommend it. :)