What is the legacy you are leaving?

Psalm 78:4

We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.

Your Legacy

Of course, we won’t be around to hear about the legacy we leave behind, but what would people most remember about you? Would it be that you were a generous person? That you were a great Sunday school teacher? How about the love you showed to others? Maybe you were a beloved spouse, parent, and grandparent. What do you think would be the most prominent thing for which you would be remembered? It might even be a legacy that lives on in your children’s children because of what you taught them (Psalm 78:4). What you do today determines what you’ll be remembered for when you’re gone. Sometimes the last impression is the lasting impression.

The Eulogy

I have given several funerals for believers, and finding positive things to say about the believers who have passed from Earth to heaven is easy. One lady who was very faithful in church and in giving will be remembered for faithfulness and her generosity. Near the end of her life, she still fought the good fight of faith trying to go to church until the very end (2 Tim. 4:6-8), so that’s what I think her legacy is. Unlike few other godly women I knew, this widow loved God with as much heart, soul, strength, and mind that I believe anyone humanly could (Deut. 6:5-7). She had laid up many treasures in heaven, not only by being a generous giver (Matt. 6:20-21), but she also adopted several foster children. What she did for others Jesus sees as doing it unto Him (Matt. 25:39).

Faithful to the Word

If you have been faithful to the Word of God, that leaves a powerful legacy. I believe that one of the strengths of the believer is to never deviate from biblical truth because it’s so easy to get caught up in doctrines contrary to what the Bible teaches (1 Tim. 4:1-4). The woman I wrote about earlier will be remembered as a no-nonsense woman of God who wouldn’t put up with false teachings because she knew her Bible so well. After her own children were grown and her husband passed away, she adopted foster children and taught them the Word of God in the hopes that they would be saved someday. In the last few weeks of her life, some of these now-grown foster children came to heap up praises on her for her selfless sacrifice, but she wouldn’t hear any of it, deflecting all the praise to God. What is the legacy you believe you will leave behind? You are building a legacy right now and might not even know it.

A Closing Prayer

Oh Creator God, I thank You that through Your truth I might leave a legacy of loving You; witnessing to the lost; giving generously; giving of myself; being a loving husband, father, and grandfather, while trying to be the hands, feet, eyes, ears, mouth, and mind of Christ. For His glory and in His precious name I pray.

Amen