Leave Boldly: Creating a Lasting Legacy March 15, 2010

Leave Boldly: Creating a Lasting Legacy

March 15, 2010

One Month to Live

30 days to a no-regrets Life

by Kerry and Chris Shook.

Principle 1: Live Passionately, Living each day as if it were your last.

Principle 2: Love Completely, showing others love that transcends and transforms.

Principle 3: Learn Humbly, growing through your problems and pain

Principle 4: Leave Boldly, Creating a legacy that will impact generations

Day 23, March 15, 2010—Creating a Lasting Legacy

“The great use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.” – William James

“Let’s tell our young people that the best books are yet to be written; the best paintings have not yet been painted; the best governments are yet to be formed; the best is yet to be done by them.” – John Erskine

Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Ephesians 5:15-17

Too many of us work nonstop, are over scheduled and too busy to slow down. Until our bodies force us to slow down. Then we are faced with the reality that all we have worked for won’t last. After we die it will be gone like a sandcastle at high tide.

As we begin the final section and focus on the principle of leaving boldly, it is so important to understand the investment required to leaving a lasting legacy. The only way to create a lasting legacy is to pour your most valuable resource into the investments with the greatest returns: people. Our relationships are the only investments that can’t be destroyed by a fire or natural disaster or be lost in the stock market.

If we’re going to leave a legacy that the waves of time can’t wash away, we need to do an on-site inspection of the life we’re currently building. We must honestly evaluate the castle we’re constructing to make sure it’s no made of sinking sand.

For what would you like to be remembered? How are you contributing to this goal right now? How long will this legacy last?

Influence Evaluation

Are you more concerned with making a name for yourself than making an impact on others? The names of rock stars, movie stars, pro athletes, politicians, presidents, kings and queens will one day be forgotten. We belong to Christ, and it’s His name that will last; only when we live to influence others for Him will we leave an enduring legacy. We will be forgotten one day. Only what we do for God, how we fulfill the purpose for which He made us will remain.

Affluence Inspection

The affluence inspection isn’t about the amount of money you have, but what you do with it. There is nothing wrong with having resources and wealth as long as we realize that all the material things we have are temporary. We should enjoy the material possessions God gives us but never get too attached to them.

The only way to pass the affluence inspection is by giving. If we keep all that we own and earn only for ourselves, we have failed. We must learn to be givers that make a difference. God wants us to be channels of His blessings.

Think about the possessions you will leave behind one day. Who will inherit them? Remember, we don’t really own anything. We’re just stewards of what God has given us.

Obedience Exam

Trying to understand what God wants you to do, is one of the greatest secrets to leaving a legacy of substance. To find out what God wants you to do; you have to spend time with God, listening and then obeying. When we use our influence and affluence to obey God, we will be enabled to leave behind a lasting legacy.

Prayer: Merciful God, I throw away so many of your resources every day. I will never be a perfect steward, but help me to be a better steward. Help me to use even the smallest amounts of time, money and influence for your kingdom. Redirect me when I have gone off course that I may leave a lasting legacy for those I love. Amen.