I have been thinking a lot about legacy lately. My wife and I have been married for 20 years and have two amazing daughters. Our oldest just turned 15 and the reality of her impending adulthood hit me hard a few months ago.
I remember when she was born, people would tell me over and over again, “It will go by fast!” At first, I though they were delusional. All those sleepless nights when she was an infant, and then those restless days of chasing a toddler, certainly seemed to drag on. But somewhere between losing her first tooth and getting her driver’s permit, the world skipped a decade!
Over the summer I had a chance to take her to Germany with our church. It dawned on me as we walked the streets of Heidelberg that my ancestors walked those very same steps along the Rhine River over 200 years ago.
My ancestors experienced religious and political oppression as they pastored the villages up and down the river. The persecution was so harsh that it forced my ancestors to immigrate to the United States where they settled in Pennsylvania, Indiana and the Cumberland Gap in Kentucky.
Generation after generation, the men in our family would pastor churches and farm. Even my great-grandparents were founding supporters of Grace College in Winona Lake, Indiana, in 1948.
All of this reminiscing reminded me of the words found in Deuteronomy 6:5-7: “Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
I cannot help but be grateful for the faithfulness of my family over the centuries as they have loved the Lord with all their hearts. As we returned home from Germany, it was impressed on mine that as a father, a husband, and as a Christian, I am also responsible to leave a legacy for the next generation.
God has called all believers to be people of faith and hope. To live in way that brings glory to Him, in all things. To let our words proclaim life and our actions to align with the truth we profess.
As you consider your own family and community, what are the ways you can instill a legacy of hope for the next generation? Does that look like being committed to your local church on a weekly basis? Does that sound like joyful and hope-filled conversations with your kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews?
How can you love the Lord with all your heart? How can you live for Jesus in such a way that impacts your family generations from now?
Dr. David Barnett is co-lead pastor at Park Chapel Christian Church in Greenfield. This weekly column is written by local clergy members.
