Leaving Your Legacy
(This post was written by Michael Wallace, High School Pastor)
Last week I wrote a blog post about graduation, but I got to thinking…this is too big of a topic to leave to one measly little post…so here comes a special “part 2” to my thoughts on graduation!
I think that we love to celebrate graduation because it is the culmination of years of hard work and determination. A lot goes in to the “finish line” that graduation represents. And a word that is usually tossed around a lot in this season of finishing high school is LEGACY.
Over the last few weeks in fpStudents we’ve been discovering that when it comes to our priorities, what we do reveals what is important to us. We can talk a big game about being healthy or loving God, but until we hit the gym or spend time in God’s Word, those things really aren’t a priority for us. The things that make it to our “To Do List” are the things that we really care about and what truly has value in our lives.
When it comes to legacy it’s easy to only look at the finish line. Seniors become focused on the legacy that they will leave, and can quickly hyper-focus on how they will be remembered at their school, church, team, or family. I have learned two things about legacy. First, if what we do reveals what is important to us, then how we do those things will determine what legacy we will leave. Legacy is less about our actions and more about our attitudes. We all leave a legacy in the form of a story, and how that story is told is connected to the way handle our decisions, relationships, etc.
The second thing I’ve learned about legacy is that nobody creates a legacy on the last lap. A legacy is built like a house, brick by brick, until it is complete. You can’t walk up to a vacant lot, toss some shingles on a concrete slab and call it a home. It takes time. Each day of your life, of high school, middle school, your job, parenting…you are creating your legacy. You determine how you will be remembered not at the finish line, but each step along the way.
