Influence...

The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day.

Proverbs 4:18 But - Just men daily grow in knowledge, and grace, and consolation, 'till all be perfected and swallowed up in glory.

Commentary:
Much of Proverbs chapter 4 is a word of caution. We must take heed of falling in with sin and sinners: Enter not into the paths of the wicked. Jesus, our teacher, being like a faithful guide showed us the right paths, warned us of the pathways into which we are in danger of being drawn aside and away from God. It can and sometimes happens even to the best of us. Those that have been well educated, and trained up in the way they should be, let them never turn aside into the way they should never go; let them not so much as enter into it, no, not even just to try it, it is a dangerous experiment and difficult to retreat with safety.

Even tho Jesus said it is the sick that need a doctor.....

There comes a point to where we are obligated to leave & forget the 'sick' or avoid them altogether - Proverbs 4:14-20 basically tells us to venture not into the company of those that are infected with the plague. Not even if we think we are guarded with an antidote.

In these verses, having exhorted us to walk in the paths of wisdom, he cautions us against the path of the wicked.

1. We must take heed of the ways of sin and avoid them, every thing that looks like sin and might also lead to it.

2. In order to accomplish this we must keep out of the ways of sinners, and have no fellowship with them. To keep us from falling into wickedness, we must shun wicked company.