Tuesday, June 27, 2023
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or her will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Wealth”, Matthew 6:24 NAV.
Leaving a Mark
We brought nothing into this world and we will leave it the same way.
Following the previous devotion of “LEAVING A MESS”, today I want to share with you about how you can purposefully accomplish LEAVING A MARK or LEGACY.
Everyone who lives will one day die, God says. The culture speaks of dying in this manor: Her health is failing or his treatment is not working. There is an entire enterprise on aging that offers options. Their suggestions is to, “eat kale, drink red wine, walk ten thousand steps daily,”… that may help prolong life a little, but it won’t prevent the ultimate end of anyone.
Only a fraction of the people, ten to twenty (10-20%) percent will die suddenly. The rest will know and have time to make some preparations for themselves and their family to leave a LEGACY. A group of Boomers were surveyed asking, “what is important and what is most important? Receiving an inheritance of real-estate and money or financial assets along with receiving values, and wisdom for life lessons”? Ten (10%) percent responded saying, “it was important to inherit financial assets or real estate from parents grand. Seventy-seven (77%) percent responding, by saying, receiving assets along with values, and wisdom for life’s lessons is very important!”
You have something of value! It’s a folder of quotations, recipes, a poem, a box passed down from your dad/mom with sentimental stuff and the stories that are connected to those things. It could be money, or property through wills and trusts.
MONITARILY WHAT CAN YOU DO? You can leave an inheritance: Cash/Annuity; Stocks/Bonds; Pensions/IRA’s; Vehicles; other etc. In mine and Marsha’s Wills, we have left a certain % of our estate, to our church.
SET UP A SCHOLARSHIP - When our son Keith died, eleven years ago, Marsha & I contributed to the Scholarship Fund at NSBC in his name, in his memory to go to Weatherford College. His son, Adam, our grandson benefited from it.
CREAT AN ENDOWMENT - The interest from an endowment gifts can go on long after your death, without an endpoint.
LEAVE YOUR STORY - What made you, you? Telling the story of your life and leaving a record of your experiences, people AND Ideas that mattered to you give’s those who love you a feeling of continuity from generation to generation. Your first crush, first job, first time afraid? What were your parents like? Where were you happiest? Who you admired?
LEAVE A LAST LETTER - Transcribe a letter as a way of leaving words to some individuals you love. Talk about their attributes, character, giftedness, qualities, strengths/weakness, and special times you had with them. Write encouraging and substantive words that will have meaning to them long after you are gone.
LEAVE AN ETHICAL WILL - An Ethical Will is a way of Transferring immaterial things to loved ones: your life lessons, your values, your story. It should to be a compliment to your Will. It’s putting your values, ethics and morality of how and who you came to be in written form for posterity sake. Begin by asking yourself certain questions about your values and beliefs? What did I learn from my parents and grand-parents? Who were your mentors and what they contributed to your life? What am I especially grateful for in your life? What passage or passages have been most Impactful to your life? Your hopes and dreams for their future? Historically Jacob, in the Old Testament, orally delivered such words to his sons, in Genesis 49. LEAVE A LEGACY, the glory of God and for benefit of The Kingdom of God
Prayer – “Lord let our live continue to be an influence for you even beyond our lives on this this earth .” Amen
