What Is Your Legacy?

“A man shall be commended according to his wisdom: but he that is of a perverse heart shall be despised” (Proverbs 12:8).
What kind of man do we want to be known as when we die? If today were our last day on earth, what kind of legacy would we leave behind? As our family emptied our drawers, cleaned out our closets, opened our safe deposit box and scanned our computer files, would they find anything that contradicted the lifestyle of holiness we professed? If they did, what kind of message would that send? Our loved ones would no doubt question whom we really were – the person they knew or the man living the double life. People may have praised us for our godly character and wisdom all our lives, but if they find out at death, that we had secret sins, it will be all for nothing. No one wants a tarnished legacy. When we are faced with temptation- even if we think no one will ever know – remember that, “The torment of the temptation to sin is nothing to compare to the torment of the consequences of sin” (Edwin Louis Cole). We can never outrun sin: it will catch up to us in this life or the life to come. Make sure that your freedom in Christ and assurance of salvation does not cause you to sin. “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:1, 2) Men of God, our legacy will remain long after we are absent from this body and present with the Lord. Let us leave behind a godly inheritance worthy of the name of Jesus, whom we serve.