We cannot change what we have done before, but we have in front of us the choice in all we would yet do. What we do will determine what we will be remembered by and the type of influence we will have on those around us.
The life you live is the legacy you leave. “Let all that you do be done with love” (1 Corinthians 16:14 NKJV).
We often think that it takes someone great or someone gifted to leave a legacy worth remembering. But when we consider those people that have touched our own lives, we find the ones with whom we have the dearest of thoughts for were the ones who simply treated us with kindness, respect, and love.
The more you bless others, the more blessed you will be. “Those who live to bless others will have blessings heaped upon them, and the one who pours out his life to pour out blessings will be saturated with favor” (Proverbs 11:25 TPT).
Your legacy has little to do with what you accumulate or accomplish and everything to do with how you treat those around you. If you want to leave a mark that will bless others across the generations, then that mark can only be founded on love and given from a genuine heart.
What you will be remembered by is not what you have, but all that you did. “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32 NKJV).
Your legacy is even more than how you might treat another person, but in how another person watches how you treat other people around you. As you extend mercy and respect to one person, it will portray to others who are watching the way in which we should treat each other.
When you see the best in others, that is the best in you. “Treat other people as you would like them to treat you” (Luke 6:31 CJB).
If your kindness is limited to when others are watching, then what you do will have a limited impact, because eventually the inner heart always pours out what is inside. You might as well be genuine so that at least your genuineness might be one quality worth being remembered by.
Live the life on earth that you would want to be remembered by in heaven. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10 NKJV).
If you want a deeper legacy, you must have a deeper level of a crucified life. Nobody living a self-centered life can ever expect to have a lasting impact on those around them. The more you revolve around yourself, the less you will impact the ones who are around you.
Your greatest legacy is your faith in Jesus Christ. “when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also” (2 Timothy 1:5 NKJV).
What do you want to be remembered by? Your prayer life or your bank account? Your kindness or your ability to argue? Your compassion for others or your self-pity of yourself? Your mercy towards people or the podium you judged others from? Your selflessness or your self-promotion?
Live a life worth imitating. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1 NKJV).
You build up a greater legacy the more you pour out. You foster a more blessed legacy the more you accept people just as they are. The more genuine you are, the more people will be touched by your message. The more you listen, the more people will want to hear what you have to say.
Your legacy is not found only in the life you live but in the lives you touch. If you want to change someone, be an example to them. “…be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12 NKJV).
The best way to teach a child how to behave is in how you behave. The lesson to boys on how to be a husband and a father is in how the man treats his wife and children. The lesson to girls on how to be a wife and a mother is in how the woman treats her husband and children.
The message of your life echoes upon the hearts of the generations that will follow after you. “The righteous man walks in his integrity; His children are blessed after him” (Proverbs 20:7 NKJV).
Create good legacies, and they will carry on to the next generation. Create bad legacies, and they will carry on for many generations that follow. What you say and what you do matters. Watch your mouth, and watch your ways, and good or bad, know you are creating your own legacy.
If generational blessings weren’t passed down to you, then see to it that they start with you. “Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments” (Deuteronomy 7:9 NKJV).
What is your life song? Sing it.
Blessings to you,
Paul Balius