"Your work will be rewarded," declares the LORD (Jeremiah 31:16
NIV)
There are no "perfect parents" -only good men and women who love
their children to the very end. Through losing teeth, bumps and bruises, and
countless sack lunches. Through midnight homework and sibling rivalry.
Sometimes it may feel as if we're just constantly caught in an endless
cycle, trying to get through this season and keep it all from falling apart.
But love is what helps us realize we've actually been building something
great-a LEGACY.
A strong family heritage. An investment in countless generations that will
follow us forward. That's what our love can help us envision when we close our
eyes at night-the prospect of shaping future generations into warriors and
winners and blessing them for years to come. We do this through daily
sacrifice, hopeful dreaming, and heavy lifting.
But it all gets grounded in love, which is at the core of the legacy you
will leave.
Its strength is not merely in the family name of the DNA you're passing on
to your children. You legacy of love will speak on, for example, through your
wisdom.
Perhaps you don't think you have many priceless gems to be remembered. But
most of those nuggets won't come from rehearsed lines or impressive speeches.
They'll rather be mentioned offhand from the bedside, the dinner table, or the
driver's seat. They will be caught as you whisper in your child's ear during a
moment of crisis. Then your words will one day be repeated into the ears of
your great-grandchildren. They won't know the source, but they will feel the
impact.
So by keeping
your mind trained now on God's Word, learning to think His thoughts after Him,
and letting His truth flow through your own experiences and memories, your children
will embrace truth that is worth carrying on. It's part of your legacy.
Love will also last through your example. Whenever you're sorting out a
household argument or dispute, you're not only trying to calm everybody down;
you're showing your kids patience and perspective. When you're getting up early
to pray and hear from God, you're instilling in them how faith orients a
person's day.
Love will also continue forward through your worship. Your children will be
allured by hundreds of things in life-money, popularity, entertainment. Each
salesman, senator, and suitor will make his case for why he's worthy of your
children's devotion. And though your kids will grow to make their own
decisions, they will always be influenced by how your faith defined what really
matters. How you loved and worshipped God. How you deferred to Him and His
will. How you let His and not others' opinions form your identity.
This is part of your legacy. If not yet, it can be.
Over the years, you can always be an affirming voice in your children's
hearts, giving them renewed confidence in the healthy, positive steps they're
taking in life.
You can be an open door of counsel, ever available with a ready ear and a wise word whenever they face decisions deeper than their understanding and experience.
You may unexpectedly assist or bless them financially with a generous gift that lightens their load or cushions their crisis. You can pray and pray, and never stop praying.
You can be an open door of counsel, ever available with a ready ear and a wise word whenever they face decisions deeper than their understanding and experience.
You may unexpectedly assist or bless them financially with a generous gift that lightens their load or cushions their crisis. You can pray and pray, and never stop praying.
Then you can do all this all over again for your grandkids as opportunities
arise and resources allow.
And it's all of love-God's love-passed on daily through the love of a
parent. Always there. Always in the back of their minds. Always with assurance,
affection, and mercy. What starts with diapers and high chairs becomes a
lifelong ministry and mission, investing your faith and yourself into one of
the very few places where your impact can best affect generations.
Your body will age.
Your clothes will become dated.
Your place of employment will eventually move on to fresh replacements.
Your various
acquaintances will think of you occassionally, but only when
something sparks their memory. Even your church will welcome new members and
carry on its ministries without you. But the waves of your life and influence
will continue to live on and ripple through the hearts, minds, and faith of
your children. It's why one biblical writer prayed, "Even when I am old
and gray, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this
generation. Your power to all who are to come" (Psalm 71:18)
acquaintances will think of you occassionally, but only when
something sparks their memory. Even your church will welcome new members and
carry on its ministries without you. But the waves of your life and influence
will continue to live on and ripple through the hearts, minds, and faith of
your children. It's why one biblical writer prayed, "Even when I am old
and gray, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this
generation. Your power to all who are to come" (Psalm 71:18)
So be sure to pour the full weight of your love especially into this one
place-in these precious, irreplaceable relationships-and you will bless God and
the world through your children. Both now and for many years to come.
Ultimately, God gave your children so you could introduce them to Him and
personally show them His love and His ways on Earth.
