Leaving a legacy

Happy New Years! I pray this year brings you closer to the Lord and that you walk in the fullness of His many blessings.

I was reading a devotional this morning and it asked me the question... "What kind of legacy do I want to leave for my children?" What a good question. For that matter, what kind of legacy do we want to leave behind period?

Our Pastor has been teaching on how God wants us to produce fruit. Then after we produce fruit, He wants us to produce much fruit, not only that, but He desires for our fruit to remain. Do we live our lives with these things in mind. We are always producing fruit. It may not be godly fruit (fruit of the Spirit), but we are always producing fruit.

Much of the fruit we produce is tasted by those around us and discarded. Leaving no trace of the fact that it was there. One that comes to mind is impatience, those around us are affected by it but the time passes and all is forgotten. Then there's the fruit that those around us taste which lingers and it leaves a bad taste in their mouth. Sometimes for a while, sometimes for a lifetime. Words of anger are some of these, they affect those around us sometimes forever, because of the pain they bring. Ah, but the fruit that comes from the Lord... Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-control, these last forever. Their taste is always sweet and pleasant. They also are a fruit that remains.

So, what kind of a legacy are we leaving? Our fruit will remain! Think of history and those which we remember. What kind of fruit did they produce which has left an impression in the fabric of time. Our lives may not impact the world, but it will impact those around us. Our spouse, children, parents, siblings, coworkers, brothers and sisters in the Lord, and the countless others we see day in and day out if only for moments.

Praise God, that as it tells us in Galatians 5:22-23, that He is the one that produces the fruit in our lives. All we have to do is ask.

Lord, help us to be a people that leave behind a legacy of Christ-likeness. We pray that you would create in us the fruit of Your Spirit, that remains and leaves a good taste in all those that we come across daily. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Blessings,

Mara