His encounters on the ship have become life lessons that he now shares with people in the form of testimony. When the sailor approaches the wedding guests, he holds one of them back because he feels attracted to him. His particular interest in the wedding guest is not specified, but I believe the old man saw something in the wedding guest that reminded him of his younger self and wanted to prevent him from making the same mistakes he once made. The sailor's interest in the wedding guest helps show this man that he should change his ways. It is not specified how the wedding guest needs to change, but the sailor didn't need to know at that point what it was because he knows when someone needs to hear his testimony to inspire their life. At first the wedding guest did not want to hear and did not want to listen to the old man, but the more the man continued to talk, the story of the ancient mariner softened the hardened heart of the wedding guest. The wedding guest is so moved by the speech that he has to leave as a result and will never enter the wedding. The testimony of the ancient mariner to the wedding guest is what God wants from his people. The old man learned many life lessons from his past and once he learned to appreciate nature, he felt that his story needed to be told. God wants us to tell our story to others to influence them to make the right choices in life and