WHAT WILL BE YOUR LEGACY?

BIBLE PASSAGE:
“He who walks righteously and speaks what is right,
who rejects gain from extortion and keeps his hand
from accepting bribes, who stops his ears against plots
of murder and shuts his eyes against contemplating
evil…this is the man who will dwell on the heights,
whose refuge will be the mountain fortress. His
bread will be supplied, and water will not fail him.”
(Isaiah 33:15-16)

MEDITATION:
How will others describe you after you have stepped into eternity?
Will they say you were a person of high morals and genuine integrity?
Will they say you were self-centered and could not be trusted?
Will they say you loved the Lord and lived your life for Him every day?
Will they say you were an encourager or a discourager of others?
Will they say you cared about others and their relationship with the Lord?

Whatever they say about you will be based on the life they saw you
living here on earth. In Isaiah, we are given some instructions for
living the life of a Godly person.

Walk righteously.
    – Live a life that pleases the Lord, instead of one that pleases Satan.
      We are not encouraged to have a condescending attitude toward
      the righteousness of others, but we shouldn’t hide our faith from
      the view of others.
          “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill
            cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and
            put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and
            it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way,
            let your light shine before others, that they may see your
            good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
            (Mattthew 5:14-16)

      Before we were even born, God had a purpose for each of His
      creations. When we surrender our lives to God, we are ready
      to pursue His purpose for our lives. However, there are still
      some unrighteous things from our ‘pre-Christian’ lives that
      need to be purged.
      Thankfully, when we are ‘saved’ by God, He begins a process
      of sanctifying remove our unrighteousness and fill us with more
      righteousness. As we are sanctified by God, we will become less
      timid about openly worshipping and praising our Creator, and
      His Son, Jesus.

Speak what is right.
    – Be truthful in everything we say. Encourage those who are actively
      serving the Lord where He has called them. Missionaries and pastors
      have dedicated their lives to serving the Lord and they can have times
      when they are lonely or discouraged (others who are serving the Lord
      can also experience these same feelings). God has given us the capability
      of being a person with compassion and understanding, which creates in
      us an ability to ‘sense’ when a servant of the Lord needs encouragement.

Reject gain from extortion.
    – Be honest in all business and financial matters. In fact, we should
      have a reputation of being an honest person with integrity.

Keep our hands from accepting bribes.
    – Don’t allow others to influence us with money or other material
      gains. All of our words and actions should be influenced by our
      healthy relationship with the Lord.

Stop our ears against plots of murder.
    – Maintain integrity; don’t look for ways to take advantage
      of others; don’t break God’s commandment which says,
          “You shall not murder”
      (We can kill someone’s happiness by the things we say or do).

Shut our eyes against contemplating evil.
    – Seek righteousness instead of sinfulness; avoid looking at
      sinfulness with pleasurable thoughts; don’t fantasize any
      participation in sinful acts.

In order to leave a Godly legacy behind,
we need to consider these things:
1. Where and how we walk.
         – Stay away from sinful places;
           walk only on the path God has chosen for each of us.

2. Guard our tongues.
         – Don’t tell lies, use profanity, tell dirty jokes, gossip, etc.
                “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths,
                  but only what is helpful for building others up according to
                  their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”
                  (Ephesians 4:29)

3. Be honest at all times.
         – Be someone who can be trusted. Never forget that honesty
            should be tempered with love and understanding. In other
            words, we need to filter our honesty with consideration of
            how it could offend or hurt someone else.

4. Stand strong when tempted.
         – Don’t allow the influence of others, or any circumstances
            cause us to commit sinful acts. When things are not going
            the way we want them to go, Satan seizes this as a golden
            opportunity to lure us into committing some sin that we
            have always struggled to overcome (or possibly a new sin).

5. Filter the things we hear.
         – Avoid gossip, songs with evil lyrics, and filthiness from the
            mouths of others. Some people have the best intentions, but
            the things they say can sound harsh or inconsiderate at times.
            There are also some people who seem to thrive in purposely
            pointing out the flaws and failures of others.

6. Look away from the things that displease God.
         – Don’t view any pornographic movies or magazines;
            avoid movies with sex, profanity and immorality.
                “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes
                  are healthy, your whole body will be full of light.”
                  (Matthew 6:22)

If we want to leave a legacy of a life of purity,
then we need to live a life that is pure. Jesus tells us,
    “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
    (Matthew 5:8)
He says that we will be blessed whenever we have a heart that
is pure. Not only that, but we are assured that we will see God.

When we have a pure heart in God’s eyes, there is a higher
probability that we will be viewed as pure in the eyes of others.
A pure heart means that having a close relationship with God is
what we want most in our lives.

Being blessed by God means having contentment. When we are
satisfied with how He has blessed us, we won’t have a desire to
take advantage of or treat others unkindly. Instead of being rude
and inconsiderate, we will look for ways to encourage and lift the
spirits of others.

Think of the last time you made a special effort to encourage or
compliment someone else, just to brighten their day. How did it
make you feel about yourself? Did it give you a warm feeling to
know that you could have a positive impact on someone else?

Now, think about the last time you said or did something that was
discouraging to another person. How did it make you feel about
yourself? Did it cause you to question why you would intentionally
hurt someone else? It didn’t increase your self-esteem, did it?

Sometimes, even when we have the best intentions, we might say or do
things that negatively impact someone else. We can’t ‘unscramble’ our
eggs of mistakes, but we can apologize and make a conscious choice to
be more careful in the future. Our change should be obvious to others.

When we are thankful for the things God has given us, we won’t
be consumed with envy or jealousy, and this frees us up to enjoy
the fellowship we have with others. The absence of jealousy and
envy opens the door to encouraging others, which increases our
own self-esteem.

When we are thankful for God’s blessings, we will find that we
are happier with ourselves and the life we are living. When we
feel good about ourselves, we can enjoy the times when we see
others receiving God’s blessings too.

Freedom from envy and jealousy gives us the capacity to encourage
others, and to enjoy lifting their spirits by the things we say and do.
We no longer find ourselves envious of the praise and blessings that
others receive. When we develop a peace with God, we can enjoy a
new peace with others.

The legacy we will leave behind depends on whether we lived a life
focused on pleasing God, or pleasing ourselves (which pleases Satan).
We should realize that our efforts to please God will not always be
embraced by others. Some will question our sincerity and some may
even say derogatory things about us to others, and sometimes to us,
as well.

ACTION:
What kind of legacy will you leave behind? When others reflect on
the life you lived, will they be led to the Lord, or away from Him?
What about the life you are living right now? Are you living a Godly,
or a worldly life? Do you need to change any of your priorities and
focus?

God loves you and He wants you to express His love to others.
When we love others as He loves us, we will want to see them
know God as we know Him. We won’t be burdened down with
jealousy, envy and self-centeredness. We won’t look for others
to blame for our own bad choices. Instead, we will enjoy and
embrace being God’s conduit for loving others.

God’s Word tells us how to transition from
a life of selfishness to a new life of selflessness:
    “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.
      Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,
      not looking to your own interests but each of you
      to the interests of the others.”
      (Philippians 2:3-4)

This command may seem like a daunting challenge if we are
having struggles owning our mistakes. It can be difficult to
value others above ourselves if we cannot shift our interest
off ourselves and instead focus on them and their challenges.

It involves humility, and that’s something Satan doesn’t want
to see in any he has ‘lost’ to the Lord. Why? Because He knows
how much the Lord loves humble members of His family, so in
his anger and rebellion, he wants us to steer us into living a life
of selfishness.

Remember, Satan already ‘owns’ those who have not accepted
God’s offer of salvation, so he can dedicate more time on trying
to disrupt and corrupt those who belong to the Lord. It fits with
the old adage, “misery loves company”, doesn’t it?

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, forgive me if my heart is not pure.
You know my innermost thoughts, so You know my
heart. I want to live a life that will point others to You
and not the world. Mold my heart so it will be pleasing
to You. Help me to realize that the things I do and say
are merely an overflow of what is in my heart. Forgive
me for the times I have failed You and for the times I
have influenced others in the wrong way. Help me to
commit my life to serving and pleasing You from this
day forward.”

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