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In recent weeks a sniper has been shooting people in the Washington D.C. area. The question is often asked in these shocking situations: “What kind of person would kill unsuspecting people for no apparent reason?”
As investigators try to identify possible suspects, they are looking for someone who is an introvert, isolated from other people and thinking irrationally.
When people isolate themselves, they have a tendency to become angry and irrational and are unable to make clear choices. Some people make decisions for evil and others make decisions for good.
What influences are present in the lives of people that lead them to make the choice for right instead of wrong?
Take someone like Cadet Ronnie Davis, who has experienced the incongruence that comes from living a life of isolation.
Ronnie was raised in a home that could be described as agnostic. God existed, but he had no involvement in the lives of the family. As Ronnie began to live his life independently, he moved farther away from any belief in God. He described himself as an atheist. He didn’t need God or anyone else in his life. It wasn’t until he started dating a Christian woman that he began to understand his need for relationship.
It was by the influence of the soldiers and officers of the Modesto Citadel Corps that Ronnie came to believe that he not only needed God, but desired a relationship with him.
We all make choices. Some lead us towards relationship and other choices lead us towards isolation. The choices that we make are based on those things that influence us. When the influences in our lives are based on Christian principles and supported by people of faith then we have more potential for making choices for the good.