One who is spiritually wise is careful about the kind of influence he responds to. True influence is the influence of the Christ, Truth, that persuades one to do the will of God. This influence is wholly good. It uplifts, inspires, purifies, strengthens, and heals. It blesses all and protects from every kind of error.
What must be guarded against is erroneous influence, the persuasion of human will that would cause one to disobey God's will. Students of Christian Science are given this admonition and rule by their Leader, Mrs. Eddy: "The members of this Church should daily watch and pray to be delivered from all evil, from prophesying, judging, condemning, counseling, influencing or being influenced erroneously."Manual of The Mother Church, Art. VIII, Sect. 1;
The influence of human will, tempting one to influence others erroneously, presents itself in all phases of human experience. For example, the sole motive of a salesman under pressure to increase sales may be to get a prospect to buy because it will be advantageous to the salesman and his company. The salesman may try to justify a basically selfish approach by maintaining that he has a good product and that the customer cannot help being benefited by purchasing it. But unless he really has the interests of the customer at heart, his words are empty.
