Becoming an Influencer of Hope

1^st Peter 3:15 (CEV)
¹⁵ Honor Christ and let him be the Lord of your life.
Always be ready to give an answer when someone asks you about your hope.

 We hear a lot today (2024) about “influencers.” As the name suggests it refers to people who have a larger than normal impact on others. As with everything in life, the devil has taken what God intended for good and counterfeited it to suit his purposes.

What was God’s original design, and how has the devil/world counterfeited the role of an influencer? God designed every believer to be an influencer – one whose words and actions reflect to others the Truth and beauty of His Kingdom. The American Dictionary of the English Language Noah Webster 1828 defines “influence” as: “Literally, a flowing in, into or on and referring to substances spiritual or too subtle to be visible, like inspiration.”  Being an influencer in the Kingdom of God comes from within –from the spirit of a person – never drawing attention to himself, always pointing the way to Jesus and the hope we have in Him. The devil/world have distorted this. An influencer in the world tries to impact people through his/her behavior and beliefs, which reflect an unrenewed mind (one without God). Hence, the attitude – “act like me, think like me.”

In today’s world there has never been a greater need for Kingdom influencers, particularly influencers of hope. The influencer of hope sees things from God’s perspective. An example of this is the following quote: “The world is not falling apart; it is falling into place.” This statement does not deny the seriousness of the world’s problems, but it does see them from God’s viewpoint; which is, He has a plan and He will take what the enemy is trying to do and turn it to fulfilling His purpose. Perspective is everything! When we see situations from God’s point of view (His Word) we can offer hope to others in whatever situation they may be facing.

How do we walk out the mandate of 1 Peter 3:15? The first step is to be ready to share the reason for our hope with others. At that point, the door is open for God to do what only He can do. We see our part and His part come together in Ephesians 4:29b (New American Standard Bible): “Let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but if there is any good word for edification according to the need of the moment, say that, so that it will give grace to those who hear.” When we share our hope, we are planting the seed of God’s GRACE (His supply) into the situation. When God’s GRACE is released, good things always happen.

A well-known minister of the gospel recalled that years ago, a woman came out of a prayer time and shared that God had given her a word. She said that the Lord had told her, “The person with the most hope will always be the person who has the most influence.” What a privilege, what an honor – to be that person!

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