The Domino Effect - 33Live Recap, May 28th
Speaker: Hannah Hayner [Written by Mandee Widrick]
Most of us can look back on our younger years and remember playing with dominos at some point in time. 
Maybe you stacked them, building a miniature castle, or maybe you lined them up according to the little dots. But the majority of us would stand them individually in a row, until you had so many dominos that they spread long across the length of your table. You had to be careful, because if you weren’t steady and sure-handed, your work would be destroyed before it was finished. If you were successful and didn’t slip up, you would then go back to the first domino, giving it a little shove with just the tip of your finger. That one domino fell upon the one behind it, and all at once the rest would follow suit as they each fell in a quick fashion, one by one. And it all started with just one domino. Just one.
Sin can be like a domino. It starts with one person, then rubs off on another. In Matthew 18:6, Jesus tells his people: “If one of these little children believes in me, and someone causes that child to sin, it would be better for that person to have a large stone tied around the neck and be drowned in the sea.” Sin is not something He takes lightly, especially when you’re influencing another believer and tempting them into sin. God desires for us to build each other up, not tear others down and lead them away from Himself.
If you have siblings, then perhaps you can understand this concept. Hopefully, you try your best to keep your siblings from being exposed to things that could be emotionally and spiritually harmful. You peek over their shoulders while they’re on the Internet, you keep an eye on the TV, you ask them what book they’re reading. Why? Because you care about what happens to them. You love them too much to see them ruin their lives, after all, they’re your family.
Other believers are part of God’s family, which means you should be doing the same things for them. I know that we all mess up sometimes, it happens. Yet, if you mess up and choose to continue living in sin, take care not to expose your life to other believers who are susceptible to the same issues. When you plant a seed in a person who struggles with a particular problem, you’re inviting that seed to grow. It then becomes a chain reaction, a domino effect. One domino cannot fall without the next one falling with it.
Satan is trying so hard to devour people nowadays. Sin seems to be clasping on like a leach, and it’s getting harder and harder to shake off. Stand strong with your brothers and sisters in Him, and help them to become all that God has planned for them. It’s hard, but it’s so worth it. Don’t let them fall. †
