All For Love by MOPS InternationalSmakprov

DAY 5: Where Legacy is Born

Your legacy is what people remember when you leave a place. Whether that place is your kid's room at bedtime, your house each morning, or this earth. It's the stories your great-great grandkids will hear about you. Here is why this is so important: Love is contagious not just from person-to-person but also from generation to generation. It might be maddening to think about "leaving a legacy" when the little ones around you demand every ounce of your energy, but sometimes it is essential to look a little farther out, decide how you want to be remembered and what matters most to you, and take small intentional steps to make it happen. It's asking the question, "If I want love to be my legacy, how do I want to live today?” 

It doesn't have to be anything big; in fact, it usually starts in small ways. Clean up your home in love. Prepare dinner in love. Do your work in love. Play with LEGOs in love. Doing everything in love becomes a little more challenging with the harder aspects of daily life: Move through a traffic jam in love. Strongly disagree with someone in love. Discipline your kids in love, resolve conflict in love, engage in social media in love.

"Let all that you do be done in love." - 1 Corinthians 16:14

In 1 Corinthians, Paul is giving the Corinthian church instructions on how they should act. In 1 Corinthians 16:14 Paul reminds the Corinthians of what the motivation behind their actions should be. Who we are on a consistent basis is how we will be remembered, and who we are on a consistent basis is driven by what is in our heart.

The first time I was asked what I wanted my legacy to be, I had no idea. A legacy felt like something I should think about much later on in life. It felt huge, overwhelming and not entirely necessary to consider. But we all leave a legacy - whether we think about it or not, so we might as well think about it now. Being intentional about what we want to do during our life could change our family for the better. It could help others find a better way to live. It could change the world, or at least our corner of it. 

Thinking through your legacy doesn’t have to be a grandiose concept, start with what matters to you. 

Make a legacy list. What are some words you’d like others to use to describe you?  

• As a follower of Jesus:  
• As a parent:  
• As a friend:   
• As a leader:

Now, put those words into a statement. There are a lot of things we should do, and those are an important part of our legacy, but don’t stop there. Think about the things you really want to do.   

• What impact do you want to have?    
• What would you need to do in order for that to happen?   
• Think about others that have inspired similar change. What did they do?  

Our legacy is made up of all the moments of our story and it might seem daunting to consider that we are constantly working on our legacy. There are some chapters of our story that we would rather no one know about, but we have to remember that the only one with a perfect story is Jesus. Even though our stories are not perfect, they can still add up to a powerful legacy. Here is the good news - we have the Holy Spirit helping us live a story and leave a legacy that points to God. 

CONSIDER THIS:   

• What small steps can I take toward leaving the kind of legacy I want - motivated by love and spurred on by the Holy Spirit? 

These small moments … this is where my legacy is born.