Legacy series, part 5

We're focused this week on leaving a legacy. We might think that there's no way to do that..... especially if our heritage is a negative one. Our Savior sets us free from the past, though. Our hope in Christ empowers us to establish a positive, God-centered legacy.
Remember this verse from our studies in Proverbs?

Children’s children are a crown to the aged,    and parents are the pride of their children. (Proverbs 17:6)

How about this one?

A good name is more desirable than great riches;    to be esteemed is better than silver or gold. (Proverbs 22:1)

We've noted before that the world has this overwhelming preoccupation with avoiding "getting old" or "looking old." The apostle John said this, and it's definitely an eye-opener:

The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. (I John 2:17)

And I've highlighted the final verse of our focus passage for us to zero in on, today:

Therefore, I will always remind you about these things—even though you already know them and are standing firm in the truth you have been taught. 13 And it is only right that I should keep on reminding you as long as I live. 14 For our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me that I must soon leave this earthly life, 15 so I will work hard to make sure you always remember these things after I am gone. (II Peter 1:12-15)

So, for the next two days, let's think about how can we build a legacy? Peter says "work hard," but what exactly does that mean?

I'm glad you asked! (Grin)
The first thing that we need to do is to look carefully at our heritage. Sometimes this takes some time. Other people are quite aware of some of the negative things in our past. Coming to terms with both the positive and the negative is really necessary - but it may also be really tough!
My suggestion is to grab your prayer journal, if you have one, and use one page for an exercise. If you don't have a prayer journal, grab a notebook or a clean sheet of paper.....
We're going to write down things in two columns: positive and negative. And we are going to be brutally honest here, OK?  Let's think about ourselves, and then about our parents or grandparents. What things did we inherit from them? What values or character traits did they pass down to us? When they were setting examples and we were watching, what did we take inside ourselves? Both the good and the bad, remember?
Here are some things to guide our thoughts..... how do we express our feelings? Were they "huggers" and very affectionate? Did we get that from them? Were they more aloof, and slow to verbalize loving words?
Were our predecessors people who easily talked about the deep feelings they had? Or was it like pulling teeth from the barnyard mule to get them to express themselves?
Were they dreamers? Ambitious? Were they schemers, deceivers?
How did they deal with fear? Were they strong believers, or did they allow fear or pressure to incapacitate them?
How about anger? Did they have short fuses? Did they explode sometimes and then express sorrow and penitence? Were they instead the type to hold things in?
Were they patient? Or impatient?
Did they show lovingkindness to others? Did they exemplify mercy and forgiveness?

This can be an eye-opening exercise if we do this honestly!
We should try to have things on both the positive and negative sides. Surely, we have strengths and personality traits that are good and positive; we also have weaknesses and traits that need to be improved..... these will be the cycles that need to be broken. Just as Asher saw dysfunction and strife lived out in his family and then resolved to do better, so we, too can look at our lists and accept responsibility for breaking the cycle here and now!

We matter. What we do matters. Whether we are modeling the Christian life for our own kids, or for our grandkids, or for younger believers in our church or in our neighborhood, what we do is very important. Taking ownership of the negative things in our heritage will allow us to change those negatives into positives. We can model godly living for those who watch us.
We may feel ourselves slipping back into the old heritage. But each time, we can remember this list, this exercise, and renew our efforts to change those "bad" traits into good.

Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel... (Philippians 1:27)

We'll conclude our study tomorrow with more applications for our daily lives.