Sunday, May 1, 2011

Interpreting Your Legacy

Psalm 71:17b-18
We will all leave a legacy.  The question is what kind of legacy it will be.  Over the next few weeks we will discuss legacy from a variety of perspectives.  Today our discussion will center on how we can assist the following generations in properly reading the actions, circumstances and outcomes of our lives.
Before passing on, make sure you pass it on by leaving a legacy.
We can’t do anything about the legacy given to us, but we can do something about the legacy we leave for those who follow us.
Legacy – Something handed down from an ancestor or a predecessor or from the past: something that someone has achieved that continues to exist after they stop working or die.
Being a “grandparent means one has been promoted in rank and given more entitled authority to maintain what has been produced.
Our lives are instructive, whether we intend for them to be or not.

  I.     Acknowledge your own received legacy – Your Ancestry - Matthew 1:1-17

"Family faces are magic mirrors. Looking at people who belong to us, we see the past, present and future. We make discoveries about ourselves." -
Gail Lumet Buckley
You can’t control how you came into the world. You can only control how you handle it and pass it on.
If we don't intentionally pass on a legacy consistent with our beliefs to our children, our culture will pass along its own, often leading to a negative end.

II.     Acknowledge your own life legacy – Your Personal History -
Psalms 139:1-4

Don’t try to deny what has helped shape you into the person you are today. -

III.     Accept the responsibility of Interpreting your own legacy –
Your Personal Story - Psalms 45:16-17

Values are transferred through families.

What one generation accepts in toleration the next generation goes to in excess. – Bill Gothard

A new interpretation of a legacy will occur with the disclosure and revelation of circumstances and influences on life actions.

When it comes to your legacy, be intentional; be purposeful. To default on this is to leave future generations without clear life instructions.

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