How Do You Want to Be Remembered?
There is an online event coming up on February 2, 2013 called Stepping Up Super Saturday (click for video and more info). You take the day before the big game, the Superbowl, and receive the challenge to be a courageous man. The organizers ask us to…
Imagine if we could call every man to become courageous leaders in their own lives, marriages, churches, and communities.
What a goal! I’m all for encouraging men to be who God created them to be, and this got me thinking about my own life. How will others remember me?
I think about the external things that I do or that are part of me that have reached other people. I’m a minister. I lead worship. I speak and preach. I am a blogger. I try to live encouraging others.
Then it hit me again, I may remembered as a great person one day for those things. It may be by a lot of people or a few, but if my kids and family don’t see a courageous, real man at home, I’ve failed.
It’s easy as men to let what we do define us and give us worth. The paycheck we bring home, the job we perform (in church or out of it)–it can give us a false sense of what is important. It can demand more of our attention and focus to secure our ‘legacy.’
The truest legacy I will provide is to my children because my legacy ultimately is my children. I want to do my best to show them a man that loves God and takes care of His family. That I don’t have to be defined by the trappings of success in the world’s eyes to be a courageous and adventurous man.
Men have been notorious for giving 110% in every other area while neglecting those closest. I wish Christian men were different, but we haven’t fared as much better overall. God’s grace provides for better.
I pray for my kids. I try to teach them. I also try to own up to my mistakes when I make them. I want them to be prepared when life’s decisions get tougher. I want them to know Jesus and worship Him with hearts full of love and gratitude. I want them to see our faith take risks and be part of the rewards.
Ultimately, I want them to be courageous too and leave a legacy for their children.
What do you think about this topic? What helps us as men understand our role better as godly, courageous men?
I am quite a bit older than you are Jason and my girls are grown and out of the house but I still keep thinking about my legacy. I have a grandson whom I love and have prayed for from the moment i was told he was on the way. I want to be remembered as a father who loved their mom, loved them, loved my grandson, and made a difference in lives. Good topic.
bill (cycleguy) recently posted..Misconceptions
Awesome, Bill. I’m with you on that. Thanks.
I think the Bible itself and all the men featured show that men are to “gird their loins” in the tough times, but like Job, be willing to repent in ashes of humility. The courageous man is guided by the power of God from the inside. The strength seen in the tough times is the only way the world knows the real man from the inposter.
Yes! And it’s not ultimate strength to be “your own man.” The greatest strength is in being God’s man. Thank you, Floyd.
Even as someone who has yet to have children himself, I want to be a godly influence on your and Andrea’s kids and Sarah and Nate’s any time I’m around them. Give them something that helps in their growth that’s of substance and gives me experience for when the day does come.
Philip recently posted..Know Your limits
That is so important too! Having those role models in different capacities in our lives from different sources--just vital. Thanks for being that for them, Philip.
I am a doer, so focusing on tasks is almost second nature to me. But I don’t want to be remembered for what I did, or the tasks I accomplished. I want to be remembered for the lives I impacted, the people who were brought closer to God because of my example, and by those closest to me. Great post, man.
Jason Vana recently posted..Loved & Wanted
Exactly. We build ministries and buildings, but what counts are the people we’ve built as we labor with God’s grace. Thanks so much, Jason.