Pastor Scott asked an important question about life today in this sermon. He asked us, “What do you want your legacy to be?” Just like the Israelites, we can forget what God has done for us. We need to be intentional, like Joshua, and not forget the goodness of the Lord in our lives. If we have children, we of course want to pass on our faith to them. We want them to follow God their whole lives and never forget or walk away from their faith in Jesus.
One thing that Pastor Scott said that really stuck out to me was when he said, “If I’m not aiming at something in my future, then there is nothing guiding my present reality toward change.” After he said that, the Bible verse that came to my mind was Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish. What is God’s vision for your life and future? What would God have you “aim” at? The Bible says that before the world was created, God knew you and had a plan for your life! The Bible also says that Jesus died on the cross so that we may have life and life abundantly! His plan for our lives is better than we can imagine it!
I think we need the vision Jesus has for our lives.
No matter the legacy we inherited, it’s our choice if we continue that legacy, or start a new one. Whether our parents were Christians and we continue from what they tried to instill in us, or if our family was like Pastor Scott’s and we are starting a new family branch in the family of God…we have to decide what we want to be, and what we want to leave as our legacy. Will we follow Christ? Or will we forget?
The good news is, if we are saved, we are a new creation in Christ! The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Whatever our past, we can start new because of Jesus! If we were born into a family that we do not want to replicate, we can start new because of Christ! We don’t have to repeat the same mistakes and pass on the sin that may be in our families. We can start new! And if you find yourself thinking, “Well, I’ve already passed on those traits and my kids are screwed up because of me”, you can go to them and ask their forgiveness and start new today. Jesus also says that His mercies are new every morning. We can ask Jesus for forgiveness each day and ask for His help to not repeat the same patterns of failure. We can ask Him to change us and to make us more like Him. We can ask our Heavenly Father to pass on His character traits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and faithfulness- the Fruit of the Spirit! Through the grace of Christ, we can pass on a legacy modeled after Christ.
Julia Palmer
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