What is Your Legacy?

Are our lives leaving a legacy daily? Though the Bible does not necessarily use the word “legacy” it does use the word “generation” throughout.

In Esther 9 the author tells us about the start of the Festival of Purim. Purim is to commemorate the deliverance of the Jews from genocide through Esther’s obedience to God. Purim is also a time for the Jews to come together to rejoice and distribute food and presents.  Verses 27-28 says, “the Jews took it on themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should without fail observe these two days every year, in the way prescribed and at the time appointed. These days should be remembered and observed in every generation by every family, and in every province and in every city, and these days of Purim should never fail to be celebrated by the Jews – nor should the memory of these days die out among the descendants.”  This festival was to make sure generations to come would remember the turmoil the Jewish people suffered and to celebrate the deliverance they received when Esther obeyed and spoke up for her people.

In Psalm 71, David recounts how he took refuge in the Lord and placed his hope in the Lord throughout his rocky life. In verse 18 David says, “Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come.” 

We can pass our legacy onto our children and grandchildren through talking about our struggles that God has brought us through, along with the victories. In one of our BLAST lessons, a phrase we used was “God - Sightings.” We need to tell those that come behind us about the “God - Sightings.” When we let our children know the struggles and victories God has seen us through, we are passing on the legacy of our faith and trust in the Lord. We are letting them see how we allow our lives to be malleable to Christ’s design for us.

When we let our children know the struggles and victories God has seen us through, we are passing on the legacy of our faith and trust in the Lord.

I want to take this one step further.  Passing the legacy of faith onto not just our own children and grandchildren, but to all those we encounter: children at church, children in our neighborhoods, our nieces and nephews, our children’s friends. Declaring His goodness from one generation to the next extends far beyond the walls of our houses.

Declaring His goodness from one generation to the next extends far beyond the walls of our houses.

Hebrews 6:12 says, “We do not want to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” Are you leaving a legacy daily? My challenge to each of us is to make leaving Christ’s legacy to the next generations a top priority in our lives.