The Influence Others Can Have On You 2 Sam. 13:1-5 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

Be careful with whom you spend your time because of the adverse influence others can have on you.  Your friends can influence you to do some bad things.  Just look at these cases.  Others can influence you:

To commit sin – 2 Sam 13:1-5 – Jonadab influenced Amnon to sin.  Eve influenced Adam to sin [Gen 3:6].  And the wrong companions can have adverse influence on you to commit sins you wouldn’t have otherwise committed.

To be critical – Jn 12:3-6; Mk 14:3-5; Matt 26:7-9 – Judas Iscariot influenced the other disciples to indignantly murmur against Mary anointing Jesus with spikenard.  If you don’t want to be a critical person, don’t hang around critical people.  They can have an adverse influence on you.

To be contentious – 1 Cor 1:10-12 there were those in Corinth who were divided among themselves over who they were following, Apollos, Peter, Paul or the Lord.  Those who were divided influenced others to go along with them.  In church splits, the disgruntled oftentimes have an adverse influence on others who were not disgruntled to become contentious and split.

To be foolish – Prov 13:20 – he that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.  Fools can have an adverse influence on you to be foolish and wise men influence you to be wise.  Decide what you want to be and then make friends of those who will help you become what you want to be.  You’re not going to become wise in the company of fools.

To dishonor your family – Prov 28:7 – he that is a companion of riotous men shameth his father.  Ordinarily you wouldn’t want to disappoint your father.  But in the wrong company you can be influenced to not only disobey him but to dishonor him altogether.  You will regret that later.

To waste your money – Lk 15:13-16 – he wasted his substance with riotous living.  Those who wanted his money influenced him to spend it all on them.  And then when he needed help they were nowhere to be found.

To destroy yourself – Prov 1:10-19 – if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.  Sinners can influence you to steal and commit crimes.  The end result is that you end up destroying your own life.  That’s not surprising; they are destroying theirs.  What a tragedy.

Conclusion: since others have so much influence on your life, choose your friends and companions wisely.  Don’t waste your time trying to impress the folks who are too cool for school.  They will take you down.  And by the time you figure out that impressing them has destroyed you, it will be too late for you to recover from the damage they have done in your life.  If you choose your friends well, then you will never regret the positive influence that they have on your life.  So, choose well.