I can remember being a kid and being told that my actions had consequences and often those consequences don’t just affect you but those around you as well. When my sister and I accidentally blew up the microwave by trying to cook mac-an-cheese in a metal pan in it, it wasn’t just us who didn’t have a microwave anymore, my mom didn’t have one to use either. When I was the reason we were running late somewhere, it wasn’t just me running late but my whole family. Actions have consequences…now true sometimes those consequences only effect you. If I didn’t study for a test, it was only my grade effected, if I didn’t turn in my math assignment, it put me behind, but for the most part those things just had an effect me. Actions have consequences…and most of the time they have a ripple effect, where the consequences don’t just effect you, but the people around you, and sometimes even further out then that.
A lot of people know right now that there is stuff in the local news about the high school I graduated from. I haven’t spoken up much about it, and occasional conversation with an old high school class mate, talking with my mom about it, and an occasional comment on an article or two that I’ve read along the way, I haven’t really said much. What the exact issue is back home right now with the school and faculty or rather ex-faculty isn’t so much the issue of this blog, as is the fact that it got me to thinking about actions and consequences.
In my journal this is what I wrote after finding out about what was going on (*name of teacher has been changed):
“I sometimes wonder if people realize that their actions have consequences and often not just for themselves, but for the people around them.
It’s like when you go rock skipping, often the rock doesn’t just [have only one ripple but rather many]. Consequences to people’s actions are like that.
Alcohol [and drugs] doesn’t just effect the one drinking but [can effect] his friends and family as well, it can also effect his or her coworkers, [and] potentially so many other people as well. [If a person gets behind the wheel drunk and hits someone and kills them, there’s so many more people that are affected].
Until this thing with *Bob Wensell popped back into my life I used to think that most sin only effected the person who was sinning, but now looking at it all sin [can] effect multiple people. Most of the time the main person that is effected is the person [sinning] but then it ripples a little way off, but more often than not the ripples out are bigger than we could ever imagine.
Ask Yourself:
- How has the sin in my life effected others? Who do the ripples reach?
- Who do I need to make amends with or apologize to?
- Who do I need to Forgive?
- What sins do I hold onto that I need to let go of?
“Here are a few questions that came to mind as I think about sin, [about] how actions have consequences] and about the whole *Bob Wensell situation of it all…
So lately I’ve been paying more attention to how actions have consequences and how life and people are affected by them. A mother who is stuck in the life of prostitution and chooses not to leave or get help when offered, is teaching her daughter that it’s the way to survive. Those who choose alcohol, are telling their families that they’re not enough.
When we first got to Puerto Garera, Philippines we showed up and there was wedding about to happen at our ministry host site, and we got a very last minute invite so some of us went. As I watched Alan and Jessica exchange their rings and say their vows, and say I do. I couldn’t help but smile. They had been long waiting on getting married, because of some complications here they hadn’t legally been able to but they have two beautiful children and as far as they were concerned they were married. But by now legally being allowed to get married and choosing to do so they were setting a new legacy for their children; setting an example, it allowed them to show them what an awesome and amazing thing it can be to be married. They chose not to just stick in the easiness that they had learned, but chose the second they could to legally get married so as to set an example for their children.
What kind of example do you want to set? What kind of influence do you have? What consequences do you have for your actions; do you want positive ones or negative ones. Do you think about the influence you have, the effect your actions could have on the people around you? I suggest you start thinking about it, don’t wait until you’re caught up in the tide-a-wave of ripples caused by someone else, don’t let other people’s actions have a negative impact on you, if you can help it. Choose today how you want to live, and what kind of ripples you want to impart on the world.
Our life ripples out, and it has influence. That’s why it’s important that we’re at our best and that we’re influencing others for the good. ~ Victoria Osteen
