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A Life Well Spent
Leaves A Godly Legacy
Our lives are eternal - and infinitely more important than the money we own. The world has taught us to endlessly pursue MORE, but money is not a measure of self worth, a reward for
godly living, or a guarantee of contentment.
We tend to race through life only to get to the end with an accumulation of wealth and little else. Is this all there is? NO! We need to
live a balanced life in order to create the spiritual and social "capital" that will be an important component of our legacy.
During the earning years great tension is
usually felt between the needs of career and relationships, and a conscious decision must be made at that time to nurture the family and social obligations in order to come out at the end
with a balanced legacy.
Eternal value is found in the way in which we understand and obey the truths of God's Word.
- To be the person God intends us to be
- To impact our family and close friends for God
- To be an effective member of society
The thing that will enable us to move the focus of our lives away from our finances is maintaining a margin - spending less than we earn. Living within our income, whatever the
level, is a learned skill and being content with what we have is also something we must learn. (Phil. 4:11-14)
If money is all you have at the end of life, it won't really impress that
many people, won't have much of an impact on society and is likely to be either wasted by succeeding generations or gobbled up by the government in taxes. A much better use of whatever wealth
we have is to invest it to buy time in order to impact posterity.
- For yourself, buy time and opportunity to understand the truths of God's word and apply it to life
- For others, build character and relationships within the family
- Contribute to the welfare of society
- Invest in things that have eternal value and in the mentoring and training of others to value the eternal.
Passing on wealth to our children can be either a blessing or a curse, depending on the preparation and training you have given them. Too much money can destroy their initiative and
adversely affect their marriages.
We can prepare our children by training them to be contented and not always grasping for "more." We can share with them our philosophy of
stewardship of all we have. We must pass on spiritual and social capital to them, if we plan to also give them a financial inheritance.
Based on material presented at a Royal Treasure
symposium by Russ Crosson, Sr. VP of Ronald Blue & Co.
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