We all have good and bad parts to the legacy we have inherited. The key is to move forward from here. For some, taking a closer look at the legacy they’ve been given helps them assess the legacy they want to pass on. After considering your past, here are some practical tips for the future:
Decide what you’ll keep: You probably have things you received that are wonderful and need to be kept and passed on. Other things may need to be thrown out. Or, perhaps you have a weak legacy that needs strengthening.
Whatever you received, you can now intentionally pass along the good. This isn’t always easy. If you saw hypocrisy in your parents’ lives, you may be tempted to throw everything out even though much of what your parents modeled was good. Don’t. That would be like burning down the house to get rid of some bugs.
Realize that God can redeem even the “bad stuff” in your legacy. Unfortunately many of us have parts of our legacy that are weak or even awful. Maybe one of your parents was an alcoholic or abusive or didn’t provide the nurturing you needed. In today’s society, the stories of such families are common. You may be asking, “How do I give something I didn’t receive? Nobody modeled this stuff for me.”
Hope is not lost. Consider the story of Josiah from the Old Testament in the Bible. His father and grandfather were involved in many wicked things, including idol worship that threatened the entire nation. But after 8-year-old Josiah became king of Judah, he reversed that trend. He sought God and purged Judah of idols, repaired the temple and saved a nation.
Like Josiah, you can choose which things in your legacy are no good and throw them away. It’s important to break the cycle of hurt by leaving bad things behind and creating a new legacy. If you don’t know God, this is a good time to introduce yourself. Legacies are not easily broken and always benefit from His guidance.
Chart a new course as you begin a positive legacy for yourself and those you love. Research suggests that most fathers will parent the way they were parented. That means only a minority of fathers will change their parenting style — even if their parenting is wrong! Today, you can take positive steps to design a new heritage for yourself and your family.
—From Your Heritage, by J. Otis Ledbetter and Kurt Bruner
Used by permission of Chariot Victor Publishing,
a division of Cook Communications
Copyright © 1996
