What are you leaving?
We received an email last year and another one a few months ago with some good news. Our extended family was getting together to celebrate the 100th birthday of my grandma. This picture is the last time Keisa and I saw her a couple of years ago. As I write this blog we are in prep mode to return home to the States for a bit to celebrate my grandma. We can’t wait to talk to her and celebrate her years, her memories, and her legacy.
Legacy is an interesting word, isn’t it? For most of us, including myself, we don’t think too much about it. I will admit, however, that as I have gotten older and I have experienced more of the pains and joy of life, the idea of legacy keeps hanging just below the surface.
As I move forward, I want to give credit and thanks to Jim Cofield and Brandon Cox who have poured a lot into my life this past year. They have challenged me to think more deeply about my calling, my identity in Christ, and what means to live a life of legacy rather than just doing. Thank you gentleman for your impact!!!
So, let’s start with the obvious. What is a legacy?
A heritage, a gift, or a long-lasting impact upon a person’s life handed down from the past.
God’s Word is loaded with passages related to legacy as well. Here’s one.
““A good man leaves an inheritance (a legacy) to his children’s children.””
And as you think of legacy, think more than money. Think bigger! Think of character qualities. Think of foundational values. Think of memories. What is it that you want to leave in the lives of others that is a transformational gift?
For so much of my life, I have thought in terms of what I am doing and what I am building. God created me as a person who likes to achieve and who likes to do (I’m an Enneagram 8 if you are curious ). It’s where I find fulfillment and purpose in my life and in pointing others to follow Christ.
So, I have spent my life doing the things that I believe will honor God and others. I have spent huge amounts of focus and energy pushing through the challenges of life while trying to honor God and my family. I’m not perfect at all, but I truly believe I’m honoring God through what He’s called me to DO.
Again, I love doing, but I’m feeling the tension of what am I leaving in others is far more important. I’m beginning to see more clearly that being fully present with God and fully present with others is by far more critical than anything I produce. This picture of a recent hike of ours helps me think in those terms more clearly. As I look over the landscape of my life and what God still has for me, I want to think more in these terms. “What am I leaving rather than what am I building?”
So, let me give you some challenging questions (thanks again Brandon!) to think through how you will live every day as a gift of legacy towards others.
List the people who matter most to you in terms of leaving a legacy beyond your life. Don’t just breeze past this. Take the necessary time. Name the names. I see these as co-centric circles that start smaller and get bigger as they move away from the center. Who has God called you to primarily impact? Who are you called to leave a legacy in?
2. What are the things that have been passed on to me that I am determined to eradicate? Other terms associated with legacy are repercussions, aftermath, and residual. None of those are good, right?
Let’s call it as it is, we are broken, wounded, angry, frustrated and the list goes on. There are some residuals in our lives that are not healthy or Christ honoring and some were passed on to us and other parts we have chosen. Let’s make the decision today and every day to eradicate what is not Christ-honoring in our lives and that which we don’t want to pass on. Let’s take the steps to get help and healing where necessary.
One of the things that was suggested to me was to start by asking others for forgiveness. It starts with an admission of, “I did that. I passed along this. Will you forgive me?” So, here’s the million-dollar question. Who do you need to seek forgiveness from? To pass on a life-giving legacy means we have to be diligent about eradicating what is unhealthy daily and it starts with seeking forgiveness. Don’t skip this!
3. What have you received that you are determined to pass on? What have you learned that you want to leave? Whatever your story is, that’s what God calls us to pass on. The lessons, the grace, the hope, the challenges we go through. It’s all a part of God’s story and God wastes nothing in your story to tell His story.
Think in these terms. What was joyfully passed on to you that you want to hope to see lived out in others? What has Jesus done in you and through you that you want to see done in and through others? What is part of your story that God has redeemed and used that you are certain He wants others to know? Make a list and look at it regularly. Then determine to live out those values every day of your life to those who are right in front of you. That’s living legacy right now!
4. How will you pass this legacy to those who matter the most? Outside of living this, how can you ensure that this gets passed along to the generation that follows you? In other words, think of a tangible way that your legacy gets handed off and others can find it. I know it sounds a bit surreal or even morbid to think in those terms, but how will you leave that behind? I’d encourage you, whatever your age to think about how to leave a tangible legacy that can be seen, touched and held on to. Over the years to come journal, record, send texts, and save those for those who matter the most. How powerful of a gift would that be to leave in the hands of those who love you?
The last time I saw my grandmother was a my father’s funeral. We were moments away from opening up the time for friends and I remember standing up front and I just started to weep. It hit me out of nowhere. Within a few moments, I felt this hand on my back and then a tight hug from someone much tinnier than me. I looked down and it was my grandma. It was so powerful to me and for me to have her there beside me at that moment.
When we celebrate Grandma’s 100th here in a few weeks, I’m sure there will be a ton of stories that we will remember with joy, maybe cry over and even laugh at together as we celebrate her life and legacy. We can’t wait!
To me, when she stood right beside me in that moment of pain, it will be something I will never forget. And for me, it’s one moment that speaks to me of the volume of her legacy.
We are called to build a legacy. Where will you start today?
~Steve
