It’ amazing the difference of negative influences on our lives verse positive influences.
If we let people tell us lies and influence our every decision.
We can be old and almost dead if we let the wrong person speak into our lives. Like Grimmer Wormtongue with King Theoden in Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers.
I’m sure that King Theoden’s demise was slow and over time as he let Grimmer lie to him about his friends and family, slowly till the point where Grimmer was making all his decisions for him.
We can become like this too, if we allow the wrong influences to be the predominate voice in or lives.
But that doesn’t have to be true of us.
We can choose who we allow to have influence over us. We have a choice of who we listen too, what we watch and how we let those things affect us.
If we let the Holy Spirit be the predominate influence in our lives. He is always with us and always has something encouraging and uplifting to say. Even moments when he correct us can be encouraging.
A few years ago when my now husband and I ere first dating. I was in a book store and the Holy Spirit corrected me in how I was acting towards my him.
That moment was one of the most loving and intimate moments I have ever had with God. Even His correction is loving.
Trust God.
Listen to the Holy Spirit about the influences in your life and trust that if He asks you to give something up that He has something even better to replace it.
Excellent!