Daily Devotional

When I was in fifth grade my teacher was talking about the pressure exerted on us from our atmosphere. I honestly don’t remember much about that lesson, but there is one thing he said that was forever etched into my brain; “That’s why if you go to space without a space suit, your body will literally explode.”

Makes a lot of sense, right? If our body is conditioned to have a certain amount of pressure on it and you remove that external pressure what would happen? Of course, it would explode. The only problem is that it’s not true.      

I believed this false statement FOR YEARS. Since my teacher told it to me, I assumed it must be true. When I first heard this wasn’t true, I had a hard time believing it. Even as I’m writing this devotional, I looked it up just to be sure because even after all these years I still can’t help but have a little part of me that thinks “maybe my teacher was right.” Because of the position and status he had, I took what he said as fact and for years never questioned it.      

In the Roman world status was a big deal. One could usually earn higher status through battle. If you defeated an enemy or showed bravery on the battlefield, you were automatically more highly esteemed. This avenue for status was sidelined in 27 B.C. by something called the “Pax Romana” or the “Roman Peace.” Now that there was a great deal of peace throughout the empire, status through battle became quite difficult.      

Eventually things called “collegia” were started up that were essentially clubs or associations in which teachers were highly esteemed. Now, the path to higher status seemed to be through becoming a teacher. As Christianity started to spread, many saw it as another one of these social clubs. There were inevitably those who thought their avenue to having higher status was to become a teacher in the Christian church. This is why James makes it clear that they are not to become teachers for their own benefit, but only for the benefit of others.      

A wise man named Ben Parker once said, “With great power, comes great responsibility.” Some of you may know that was a quote from Spider-man, but even though that is a quote from a comic book, it doesn’t negate the validity of the statement. Teachers have a great deal of influence over others, and with that influence comes a great deal of responsibility.      

Whether or not you are a teacher or desire to be one, we all need to recognize the level of influence that we have with others. No matter where you are in life, you have some level of influence in someone else’s life. That is a tremendous responsibility that we not only need to be aware of, but also treat with the seriousness due to it.      

How do our words and speech affect others? In Matthew 12:36 Jesus says, “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak…” Do the things we say to those we have influence over lift up or tear down? Does our speech point others towards Christ or away from Him?      

How do our actions and behaviors affect others? Jesus says in Matthew 18:6, “but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” Yes, that’s extreme and hyperbolic language, but the point is clear; we need to be careful with our influence.      

The fact of the matter is, we all have influence over others, and we will be held accountable for what we do with that influence. Who are you influencing today and how are you influencing them? Influence is power and “with great power comes great responsibility.”

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.