O God, You have taught me from my youth, and I still declare Your wondrous deeds. And even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to all who are to come. (Psalms 71:17-18)
This past Saturday we had our second Parent Summit here at North Side Baptist Church. I hope you had the opportunity to attend. We believe family is important and we here at North Side Baptist Church want to do everything we can to equip families to survive these trying times. A help in connecting and strengthening families is the handing down of a good family legacy.
Family Legacy
Without roots we blow through life as tumbleweeds at the mercy of the winds and end up wherever we are caught. Family is where our roots take hold and from there we grow. We are molded within a unit, which prepares us for what we will experience in the world and how we react to those experiences. Legacy tells us we came from some place and are leaving a mark on the future. A Legacy is 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. A family legacy is the overriding impact, influence and/or materials passed down to the next generation from the actions or resources of the generation(s) before. Your family handed down a legacy. Now it is your family’s turn to pass it on.
The Four “C’s of a legacy:” (Capital, Character, Conduct, and Convictions)
1. CAPITAL – Material or financial legacies are the most commonly considered legacies. When we pass any kind of legacy down, we have to trust the next generation to treasure it. The problem with financial inheritance legacies is that they are left by one generation and then the next generation comes and spends it all instead of adding to it and leaving something to pass on to the next generation. Stewardship of capital legacies is a primary lesson to pass on to the next generation.
2. CHARACTER – Character is the core of the legacy we will leave. God isn’t interested in you just having a good reputation; He is interested in you being a godly person! Who we are, not just what we have, is what remains when we are gone.
3. CONDUCT – How you live affects your legacy. Our kids learn not from what we say but what we do. Of all the things that are caught not taught, values are the most learned by lifestyle. We can say we believe things but unless we live them our children not discover the value of our beliefs. Change yourself and you will change your children’s destiny!
4. CONVICTIONS – The greatest legacy a family can leave is the impact of their faith on the next generation. How dear to you it that your children discover God and find salvation in Christ? Do your children really know what is important to you?
The important thing to recognize about a legacy is that you will leave one whether you try to or not. It is the remnant of influence that remains when we pass that decorates the reputation of a family. All of those who follow will be known by those who knew you through your reputation and values. Each day that remains in our lives we will write on the hearts of generations to come. May we cherish our legacy as we write them today.
Scripture to Claim:
Remember the days of old, consider the years of all generations. Ask your father, and he will inform you, your elders, and they will tell you. When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel. For the LORD'S portion is His people; Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance. (Deuteronomy 32:7-9)
