A Family Legacy

EDL pix legacy“Your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother and mother.”    2 Timothy 1:5 NIV.

A family legacy is intentional, never coincidental.

My thoughts and comments today are about “a family legacy.”

The recent weekend prompted my reflections about legacy. “Each generation goes further than the generation preceding it because it stands on the shoulders of that generation.” Ronald Reagan. Imagine the costly waste of social, financial, educational, intellectual, and spiritual capital if every generation were left to learn the necessary life lessons without benefit of the knowledge and experience of previous generations.

Sincere faith ignites spiritual life in others. Paul wrote of young Timothy, “I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother, and in your mother, and I am persuaded now lives in you also.” Read 2 Timothy 1:4-7 NIV. The faith that captured young Timothy’s heart was practical and personal. Timothy benefited from a multi-generational, family heritage of incomparable worth. A family legacy is never coincidental; a spiritual legacy is produced by clear and Godly intentionality.

The transmission of your personal faith and Biblical convictions must not be left to chance. Lessons of life and vital faith practices should be faithfully handed from generation to generation. Amid growing secularism and misapplied political correctness about religious pluralism, Christian families must guard a vital faith that is a transferable experience while its application is contemporary and individual.

Few understand the extent of a family’s impression on what you believe about yourself, who you become, or with what attitude you embrace life. You may not recognize the subtlety of how or when the imprint of parenting is happening nor the significance of how parents impact the deepest part of your personality throughout your lifetime. Godly parents’ example and influence always remains with you.

Together, my parents gave the best of their time and talent to family and ministry, so growing up my life had a dual center – home and church, each inseparable from the other. By example, I was taught the joy and privilege of the integration of our family and lives into the calling of ministry. Church was the heart of our home and family and the unique calling that made us what we were. I credit my parents for keeping church and home in balance.

Gratefully, I am the product of my Dad’s sermons and my Mom’s songs. My Dad taught me to love God with a whole heart, and to serve God faithfully with creativity and excellence. My Mom taught me appreciation for order and cleanliness, and for beauty and style. Together, they taught me to be gracious and generous, to appreciate people for the special person God made them to become, and to be confident in who God made me to be.

I am grateful for the Godly legacy that marks my path and shapes our lives and the lives of our children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and every generation until Jesus returns. With a family legacy comes a sacred responsibility to keep faith with generations who will follow you.

Today, I pray for you that your goal is clear and your determination steadfast.