Paul makes a very interesting comment in the beginning letter to the Thessalonians. "For you know what manner of men we were among you for your sake" (1 Thessalonians 1:5).
Our choices affect everyone around us. An early American Christian author, John Donne, expressed it this way:
No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend's were.
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.
