Leaving A Legacy

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. - Mark 10:45

Let me ask you a few questions. If something were to happen to you, what would you want people to say about your life? How would you want to have impacted the people around you? What kind of legacy do you want to leave?

Unfortunately, I feel like we don’t think about these questions enough. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in the things on earth that demand so much of our attention. Whether it’s trying to get ahead in our career, checking things off our to-do list, buying all the things we want, or scrolling through social media and comparing ourselves to the people in the pictures…are those the things you want to see when you look back on your life and think about how you spent your time? 

If you think about it, all of those things are self-focused. How can I climb the corporate ladder? How am I going to be able to get all of this done? How can I figure out a way to buy that car? How can I look like her? 

Don’t you see? All of those questions revolve around me. They make me believe the lie that my life is all about me. But I refuse to believe that I was put on this earth to just focus on myself - what I want to do, where I want to go, and what I want to obtain. Jesus didn’t live that way, and I don’t want to live that way either. 

Jesus’ entire life on earth was dedicated to ministering to other people and preparing the way for them to have a relationship with their Heavenly Father. He didn’t spend His time being selfish or self-focused, but rather He spent his days looking for ways to care for the people around Him. And if we are going to call ourselves followers of Christ, shouldn’t we have the same mentality about our own lives?

So once again, my question for you is this: what kind of legacy do you want to leave? If you were to die tomorrow, would you be okay with what people would say about you? Or is that something you would want to change? What do you want people to think of when they think of you after you’re gone? How do you want your impact on the lives of others to outlive you?

I promise if you will ask yourself these questions, the way you live your life will change. Things that once seemed so important, so necessary, will suddenly seem insignificant. You will begin to see your relationships, your calling, and your God-given purpose in a brand new light. Our lives are not our own. We are each a steward of the life God gave us, so why not use it to leave a legacy that points others to His greatness and His glory?