Do you ever find yourself caught up in the latest TikTok trends, trying to catch up with what everyone else is doing? Or your friend’s post went viral but yours (that was indeed funnier) didn’t? Perhaps the Bible can help us with that.
In Ephesians 4:17, the apostle Paul urges us not to pursue the trends for the likes, but for the influence. Let me explain:
This is what it says: Eph. 4:17 And so I insist—and God backs me up on this—that there be no going along with the crowd, the empty-headed, mindless crowd. 18 They’ve refused for so long to deal with God that they’ve lost touch not only with God but with reality itself.
Does this sound like anyone you know?
Paul insists that there is something far more valuable than chasing after every passing trend. It’s influence. Chasing acceptance is a fleeting task that will result in a lot of insecurity as we fight to maintain that superficial love. Influence, is not something you can buy. Though I can hire an influencer, we all know when someone believes in something vs. them trying to sell me something. Influence has the power to change lives and bring about lasting transformation, far surpassing the popularity gained from following fleeting trends.
When it comes to influence, we all have potential to be influential and that lies in exploring our Genius. Each one of us has unique gifts, talents, and passions given to us by God. Rather than chasing acceptance, chase influence, more specifically, chase the development of your genius.
What would it look like for you to influence people because your genius helped people encounter love, kindness, and a worldview that Jesus taught? Interesting.