What Kind of Legacy Do You Want to Leave?

When your life is over, what will remain? Maybe that sounds like a question for someone much older. It isn’t. You are building your legacy right now.

Every conversation. Every decision. Every person you help. Every grudge you hold. Every truth you stand for. Every example you set for your children. Even the things you say and share online are becoming part of the story you leave behind.

The world often tells us that a successful legacy is measured by what we accumulate: money, accomplishments, possessions, followers, recognition, influence or a family name people remember.

But Jesus showed us something completely different. He left behind no mansion. No fortune. No business empire. No political office. No social status to pass down. Yet more than 2,000 years later, people around the world still follow Him.

So maybe the question isn’t:

“How much can I leave behind?”

Maybe it is:

“What kind of person will I leave behind in the hearts and lives of others?”

What Does Legacy Mean?

A legacy is what continues after you. That can include money, property, possessions or accomplishments, but your real legacy reaches much further.

• It is the influence your life had on other people.
• It is what your children learned from watching you.
• It is how people felt when they were around you.
• It is the values you demonstrated when nobody was applauding.
• It is whether you encouraged people, forgave people, helped people, told the truth, stood up for what was right and showed others what following Jesus actually looks like.

A legacy isn’t something you suddenly create at the end of your life.

You are creating it every day.

What Kind of Legacy Did Jesus Leave?

If we want to understand a lasting legacy, there is no better example than Jesus Christ. Jesus did not spend His life trying to become rich, popular or powerful.

• He served.
• He taught.
• He healed.
• He forgave.
• He spoke truth even when the truth was unpopular.
• He spent time with people society ignored.
• He confronted hypocrisy.
• He showed compassion.
• He loved people enough to tell them the truth.
• And ultimately, He gave His life for us.

Jesus said:

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” — Mark 10:45

That is an entirely different definition of greatness!

Jesus didn’t build His legacy by asking, “What can I get?” He lived asking, in effect, “What can I give?”

Jesus’ Legacy Was About People

Look at the people Jesus spent time with:

• Some were poor.
• Some were sick.
• Some had terrible reputations.
• Some had made serious mistakes.
• Some were rejected by everyone else.
• Some doubted Him.
• Some betrayed Him.

Jesus saw people differently than the world did.

His life reminds us that our legacy isn’t merely about what we accomplish. It is also about how we treat the people God puts in front of us.

That includes:

• Our spouse.
• Our children.
• Our parents.
• Our friends.
• Our coworkers.
• The difficult person.
• The lonely person.
• The person who cannot do anything for us in return.

Sometimes the greatest part of your legacy will be something the rest of the world never sees.

Worldly Legacy vs. Godly Legacy

The world often measures legacy by what can be counted.

Worldly legacy may focus on:

• How much money did I make?
• How successful was my career?
• How impressive was my home?
• How many followers did I have?
• How well-known was my name?
• How much did I own?
• What did I accomplish?

None of those things are automatically wrong. Money can be used generously. A successful business can help people. Achievement can provide opportunities to serve others.

The problem comes when those things become the purpose of our lives.

Jesus warned:

“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” — Mark 8:36

A godly legacy asks different questions:

• Did I love God?
• Did I love people?
• Did I tell the truth?
• Did I forgive?
• Did I serve?
• Did my family see Jesus reflected in the way I lived?
• Did someone understand God better because they knew me?

That kind of legacy cannot be measured by a bank account.

Social Media Has Changed the Way We Think About Legacy

Today, it is possible to spend an enormous amount of time building an image of ourselves.

• Followers.
• Likes.
• Views.
• Comments.
• Photos.
• Videos.
• Opinions.
• Arguments.

We can become so concerned about how strangers perceive us that we forget about the people sitting in the same room. Social media can make popularity look like influence and attention look like significance. But they are not necessarily the same thing.

1. You could have thousands of followers and still fail to make time for your own family.
2. You could post inspirational quotes while treating people poorly behind closed doors.
3. You could win arguments with strangers online while losing patience with the people you love.
4. Your digital footprint may become part of your legacy too.

Before posting, commenting or arguing, it may be worth asking: Is this really what I want representing who I am?

Leaving Behind YOUR Legacy…

What Legacy Are You Leaving Your Children?

Parents leave their children far more than possessions. Children watch how we live.

• They see how we treat our spouse.
• They hear how we talk about other people.
• They notice whether our faith exists only on Sunday or affects everyday life.
• They see how we respond when we’re angry.
• They watch whether we apologize when we’re wrong.
• They learn what matters to us by watching what receives our time.

Deuteronomy 6:6–7 tells God’s people to keep His commands upon their hearts and teach them diligently to their children throughout everyday life.

These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. – Deuteronomy 6:6-7

A Christian legacy isn’t simply telling your children to believe in God. It is letting them see what believing in God looks like.

Your Legacy Includes How You Treat Your Parents

Legacy also works in the other direction. How do we treat the people who came before us? As parents and grandparents age, they may need more of our time, patience and help.

The world can become busy. Careers, children, phones, activities and responsibilities compete for our attention. But honoring our parents doesn’t become irrelevant because we become adults.

Sometimes leaving a godly legacy means showing our own children how to care for people when caring for them becomes inconvenient. They are watching that too.

“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” – Exodus 20:12

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.² “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— ³ “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” – Ephesians 6:1-3

Your Mistakes Don’t Have to Become Your Legacy

Maybe you’re reading this and thinking about everything you’ve done wrong. Perhaps you haven’t always been the parent you wanted to be. Maybe you’ve hurt people. Maybe you’ve spent years chasing things that don’t matter anymore. Maybe there are parts of your past you wish you could erase. Your story isn’t finished.

Peter denied Jesus three times, yet his failure was not the end of his story. Paul persecuted Christians, yet God transformed his life and used him to spread the gospel. God has repeatedly used imperfect people.

Your past can be part of your story without becoming the final definition of your life. A different legacy can begin today.

You Don’t Have to Be Famous to Leave a Powerful Legacy

Most of us will never have our names written in history books. That’s okay. Some of the most meaningful legacies will never be famous.

• A grandmother who taught her grandchildren to pray.
• A father who worked hard but always made time for his children.
• A teenager who befriended the student everyone else ignored.
• A person who quietly paid for someone’s groceries.
• Someone who forgave when bitterness would have been easier.
• A friend who introduced someone to Jesus.
• A person who consistently showed up when someone was hurting.

… The world may never know their names. God does.

Jesus taught:

“But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” — Matthew 6:3

Not everything meaningful needs an audience.

What Will People Remember About You?

Imagine for a moment that people who knew you were describing your life. What would you hope they would say?

“He made people feel important.”

“She loved Jesus, and you could see it.”

“He always showed up when somebody needed help.”

“She told me the truth even when I didn’t want to hear it.”

“He loved his family.”

“She forgave people.”

“He was generous.”

“She helped me find my way back to God.”

Those statements describe a legacy that money cannot purchase.

You Cannot Take the World With You

Eventually, everything we own belongs to somebody else.

• The house.
• The car.
• The clothes.
• The furniture.
• The bank account.
• The things we worked overtime to buy.

Ecclesiastes repeatedly confronts this reality: earthly accomplishments and possessions cannot provide permanent meaning by themselves.

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work, save, build businesses or enjoy what God provides. It means those things should never become our god.

Jesus said:

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” — Matthew 6:21

Our possessions remain here. Our influence on people can continue long after we’re gone.

What Kind of Legacy Do You Want to Leave?

Maybe the better question isn’t whether people remember your name. It is whether your life helped them remember Jesus.

1. Did you love when loving was difficult?
2. Did you forgive when holding a grudge felt easier?
3. Did you serve when nobody was watching?
4. Did you stand for truth when doing so cost you something?
5. Did you give your family your time rather than only your possessions?
6. Did you tell people about Jesus?
7. Did you live your faith—or merely talk about it?

Paul wrote:

“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” — 1 Corinthians 11:1

That is an incredible way to think about legacy. Live in such a way that someone following your example would move closer to Christ.

Start Building Your Legacy Today

You don’t need to wait until you’re older. You don’t need more money. You don’t need a platform. You don’t need thousands of followers. You don’t need to have your entire life figured out.

Start with the person in front of you.

1. Call your parents.
2. Spend time with your children.
3. Put the phone down.
4. Forgive someone.
5. Apologize when you’re wrong.
6. Help someone who cannot repay you.
7. Tell someone about Jesus.
8. Pray with someone who is hurting.
9. Stand for truth without forgetting love.

Use whatever God has given you to serve someone else. Because one day, the things that seemed so important may not matter very much at all.

The question will not simply be:

“What did I leave?”

It will be:

“What did I leave in others?”

Jesus left a legacy that continues changing lives more than 2,000 years later.

We won’t leave the legacy Jesus left. But we can choose to leave a legacy that points people toward Him. And that may be one of the most meaningful things we ever leave behind.