The church I serve recently celebrated its 10
year anniversary. During the celebration, I was given a gift by one of our
church’s artists. On one side was a map of the USA. On the back, there was a thank
you for helping build a legacy. It really moved me and, more importantly, got
me thinking a lot about this truth: to
leave a legacy you need to live a legacy. If the first time you think about
your legacy is at the end of your life, it is too late.
In its purest form, legacy is something you create during your life to
benefit future generations. Often, it’s something you may never see come to
fruition. A legacy is like an elderly person who plants a fruit tree - they know
they will never taste the fruit it produces.
The writer of Hebrews wrote in chapter 11
a “who’s who” of the Old Testament. The end of the chapter says “All these
people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive
what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it.” They and all those who came after them left a
spiritual legacy that we are blessed by today. Their legacy was a gift for
those who would come after without expecting anything in return.
"The legacy we leave is part of the ongoing foundations of
life," says business philosopher and author Jim Rohn. "Those who came
before leave us the world we live in. Those who will come after will have only
what we leave them. We are stewards of this world, and we have a calling in our
lives to leave it better than how we found it, even if it seems like such a
small part."
In order to leave a legacy worthy of Christ,
we must live a legacy And to live a legacy, we must be intentional. I have come
up with five questions that I hope will prompt you to live a legacy. They are
not easy…but things of value seldom are.
1.
How will the world be different because I was here?
2.
Why is this a legacy worth my life’s work?
3.
What am I willing to sacrifice in order to make my legacy
a reality?
4.
What needs to happen in order for my legacy to become a
reality?
5.
Who will you entrust with your legacy?
I hope these five questions encourage you to live a more focused life
that will help you leave a gift for the generations that follow. You can’t do
anything about the world you were given, but you can do something about the
world you leave.
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