WHAT WILL YOU LEAVE YOUR KIDS?
What legacy will you leave your children? What lasting impressions will you make on your children’s lives? What will they take with them the rest of their life, that they saw in you and learned from you?
These questions were at the forefront of my mind as we raised our children.
There is an old saying a good friend of mine often shared, “Truth is often more caught than taught.” Of course truth needs to be taught. No question about it. We need teaching in order to learn and grow.
But the legacy we leave our children will be wrapped up in what they saw us live. How did we choose to actually live our lives during the days they were in our home? You see, one day they won’t be children anymore. They’ll be adults, whose frame of reference, and values will be the legacy of their upbringing. The home life you gave them will be their compass, their internal, guiding light, so to speak.
Did we live for the accumulation of nice things? Did our lifestyle choices, which they witnessed every day, demonstrate eternal, Biblical values? Did we live in debt and beyond our means? Did they see us live the truth—You can’t serve God and money? Were we content with what we had? Did we live with a thankful heart towards God? What would they say we really valued? Did we live our lives in true, earnest devotion to God? Did we live our lives serving other people, laying down our lives for others? Was that what gave us joy? Were we committed to a life of doing good? Did they see us striving to live a righteous, upright life? Did we speak highly, lovingly and often of the Lord? Did they see us passionate about spiritual things? Did they ever see or hear us share the Gospel with other people? Did they see us live sacrificially for the cause of Jesus Christ? Did they see us live with a passionate sense of purpose, in the recognition of the eternal consequence of our choices? Did they see us stand up for what’s right and hate what’s evil? Did they see us live courageous lives in a culture full of cowards, compromisers and people pleasers? Did they see us devoted to prayer? Did they ever hear us recount God’s specific answers to our prayers? Did we live out our Biblical roles as a husband and a wife, so our children know exactly what it’s supposed to look like when they grow up and get married? Did they live with a dad and mom who yielded to God? Did they see us trust God through our difficult times? Did they see us lean hard on our faith? Did they see our devotion to God’s word, did we treasure God’s wisdom? Will they say my dad relied on his Bible more than his smartphone? Did we strive to love one another? Will they remember how kindly we treated and treasured them? Will they remember that like Jesus Christ, we put their interests and their good before our very own? Will our life become their excuse to embrace the world and reject Christianity?
You see my friends, most Chistians have a real credibility problem. They say, I love God then barely give him a dime. They say, I believe the Bible, but rarely read it. They say, I believe the Gospel is the only hope for the world, but most never share it with others. They say, I’m living for God, for eternal things, but fill their lives with lots of nice stuff, eat out often at fast food restaurants, buy Starbucks coffee every morning, drive expensive cars, which is to say, most Christians are simply living the American culture’s way of life, for the things of this world. They say they’re passionate about their faith, and their love for Christ, but get more emotionally engaged and excited over a football game than about God. This is what our kids see! This is what they witness firsthand, no matter what words come out of our mouth. The real legacy we leave will be the legacy we LIVED!
My friends, my intention is not to shame, but to awaken! The time we have with our kids is very, very short. Make the very most of the time you have left.
Psalm 119:59
I pondered my ways and turned my feet to your testimonies. —Berkeley
I have examined my ways and turned my feet to your testimonies. —NASB
I examined my lifestyle and set my feet in the direction of your decrees. —ISV
I have thought about my life and I have directed my feet back to your written instructions. —GW
Helping you become a Strong Disciple,
Because of Jesus,
Pastor Mark Darling
