How are you living your life? Are you living today with the end in mind?
I’m posting this blog intentionally on February 21st because my dad would have been 97 today. But instead of celebrating his 97th birthday, we’re celebrating his life well lived. My dad entered his heavenly home on February 2nd and 8 days later we celebrated his life together as family and friends. His celebration of life service was a beautiful reminder that we live our lives one day at a time and that our legacy is built little by little by the choices we make on a daily basis. What made my dad’s legacy so special is that it was built on service, integrity, compassion, and truth. Ultimately, those qualities, lived daily, resulted in a life of love.
Dad was nothing special by worldly standards. He didn’t have an exciting job or a position of importance. He regretted not being able to go to college, but that didn’t stop him from working hard and caring for his family. His greatest act of love came in the final years of his life as he tirelessly sacrificed his time and energy to care for my mom who had Alzheimer’s.
My dad was certainly not perfect, but he consistently made choices that revealed his values that were rooted in his love, first for his God, and second for the people around him. As I watched my dad care for my mom, I saw sacrificial love in action, and it motivated me to examine my own life.
If I desire to have people speak positively of my legacy, as one that revealed the love of Jesus, then I need to reveal the love of Jesus. Daily. A life of love can only happen if I give the Spirit of God permission to reveal my selfish thoughts and actions, and then surrender to his power to change me. A legacy that gives glory to God begins with surrender to his will; “Not my will, but his.”
Take time today to think about how you’re living your life. How are you revealing God’s love in the smallest of acts? How are you displaying Jesus’s character in the words you speak?
Legacy. A word that says less about you and more about God’s glory. How are you building your legacy today? Continue reading