Day 21-Taking Care of Your Family

"A good man leaves an inheritance for his children's children..." (Proverbs 13:22) (NAS).

One psychologist stated that individuals in their 30's and 40's are interested in personal growth and development, and attainment, while when a person in their 50's and 60's begin thinking about their legacy and what mark they want to leave on the world. The psychologist may be correct in his observations, but the reality is that we all need to look at the legacy that we are creating.

Legacy just does not begin when a person reaches 50, it is really a culmination of our lives. Maybe when individuals reach their 50's they become more present to the idea of legacy, but let's be clear that it is a culmination of our life. I am always amazed that when a person makes his or her transition to be with the Lord, how if they made a mistake in the past, the media defines them by that mistake.

The writer of Proverbs shares that it is a "good man" who leaves an inheritance...
I share the importance of estate planning and assuring that your family is taken care of in the event of death. But an inheritance is much more than the financial aspects of life! An inheritance is our inheritance that we pass down to our family members for generations. This should make all of us think twice about what kind of lives that we are leading.

Having young children, I have become keenly aware of the necessity of "training them in the Lord", but I am finiding that the legacy that we leave is not so much in terms of what we tell them, it is in what they see in us. Children inherit the things they see in our lives consistently. Children shape their world-view and develop their philosophy of life based on how we live. We can tell them to go to school and get a good education, but it carries more weight when we have done it. We may tell them, the ills of certain behaviors, but all they will replicate is what they see in us. I cannot tell my children to always go for your dreams and be adventerous when all they have ever seen in me is a person ruled by fear.

If you want to know what kind of legacy your are leaving, look at your children. If you do not have children, look at those who are around you in your circles of influence.

Living with Faith and Power and Creating Phenomenal Life!

Bishop Keith Russell Lee
Hoffman Estates, IL and Los Angeles, CA

Focus: Creating a Legacy of Holiness and Sanctification!

Spiritual Prayer Treatment
Father, I embrace the fullness of all that you are!
In the name of Jesus, Amen!