I think everyone of us could write a personal biography of our lives on how people have influenced us.

I would say in my life, almost every major decision I have ever made was made as a result of the influence of someone in my life.

In a major study they wanted to find out what affected young people. Now, you must listen carefully as I describe this study to see what they really did. They did a 10-year longitudinal study of young people, but these were young people who were at high risk, you know, for drugs, for alcohol, sexual behavior, violence and all – very high risk.

Now most studies would do a longitudinal study to see why did these become involved? This study did the opposite and it is brilliant.

They studied those kids who did not become involved in high-risk behavior, even though they were at the border of doing that. And this is what they found. After years of studying, 80 percent of the young people, who were at high risk but did not become involved in high risk behavior; because one person took an interest in their life.

And now if you are a teacher, listen to this: 40 percent of them said it was a teacher.

You know, it comes back to relationships. Every child who is in high risk behavior is normally crying out for a relationship; crying out for someone to love them, to impact their lives.

Oh, when David said, “I am constantly aware of Your unfailing love. . .” What did that do to his life? “And I have lived according to Your truth.”

Every young person deserves the right to be able to see that unfailing love and have that opportunity to live out God’s truth.

I trust that even this week you could look back and see how your life, no matter how old you are; how your life impacted someone else for Christ.

SUMMARY: Everyone can tell how people have influenced us. Almost every major decision I have ever made was a result of the influence of someone in my life. A major 10-year longitudinal study of young people was done. This was brilliant. They studied young people who did not do high risk behavior like drugs, alcohol, sex behavior and violence even though they were in high risk areas. Some 80 percent of the young people said that one person took an interest in their lives. Some 40 percent listed a teacher. David said, “I am constantly aware of Your unfailing love and I have lived according to Your truth.” [Psalm 26:3] Look back at your life and see how your life has impacted someone else for Christ.

QUESTIONS:

1. Who has shaped your life?
2. Why did Josh make the major decisions in his life which he has?
3. In this 10-year longitudinal study of young people, who did they study?
4. What influenced 80 percent of those who did not become involved in risk behavior?
5. What percent of these were influenced by teachers?
6. Who are you taking an interest in to impact for Christ?