You don’t get to decide your own legacy. You set your goals, you live your life but history will judge your legacy. Funny thing is, your legacy is less about what you’ve done and more about how you treated people. Even if you’re known for what you do, it’s still judged by how what you did affected people.
History will judge your legacy but God will judge your works. Your deeds and actions matter. God will judge your works at the resurrection. The good news is your salvation is determined by your faith in Christ alone, but your works determine your rewards.
1 Corinthians 3:11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
We’re not 100% sure what the rewards are but I think it’s safe to say God will still get all the glory for what you allowed him to do through you.
By the way, don’t forget about this passage when reading about the judgment of your works…
1 John 4:16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us.
You don’t have to be afraid of any future judgment because you are just like Jesus as far as God is concerned. Meaning you’re his beloved child whom he loves. You’ve been adopted by God into his eternal family because you believe in Jesus as your right-standing with God.
Back to my point about deeds and legacy…
Many of you know that my mom recently passed away. I’ve talked to so many people about the impact she had in their lives. The overwhelming majority of people who came to her memorial or contacted me said she was kind, loving and accepting. Many have stories of her helping them, her being there for them when they were going through a difficult time. That’s mom’s legacy, she’s someone who helped people when times were tough…including me.
There’s another facet to her legacy — my ministry. Let me give you a little background, mom was a believer but we didn’t go to church when I was young, it just wasn’t part of our lives. I got saved from a bad substance abuse experience in my late teens and began seeking God on my own. I would speak with my mom about Jesus during my years of searching but she just didn’t know much. Her influence would manifest another way.
When I was 21, mom met a lady in her shag dance club that invited her to church. Mom then invited me to church. That was December 0f 1994, the church was Faith Cornerstone Church in Dunwoody, GA, pastored by David and Erline Michael.
After listening to Pastor David for a few months I knew that I was going to be in ministry somehow. I didn’t know what a “calling” was, I didn’t know I was supposed to “live for Jesus” but it was clear to me I would someday do what pastor David was doing, I just knew it in my heart. From that point on, every decision I made was a step in that direction.
It’s the little things that build a legacy…
What if mom had not invited me to church? What if the lady that invited her hadn’t invited her? Would you be reading this email? I can’t say for sure but probably not.
I want to encourage you, do the little things that seem insignificant. It’s a reality that our deeds will be judged, but those deeds can also make an eternal difference in people’s lives. Your actions matter. I think following his leading to invite someone to church is one of the kinds of deeds you’ll be rewarded for. There are probably millions of small deeds that people will be rewarded for on that day.
It’s the little things that build a legacy. It’s the little things that build a life. It’s probably the little things that God sees in secret for which he will reward you openly. All the bad deeds will burn away and never again plague you, but that’s another conversation.
I want to encourage you to do good works. Not because you’ll be judged, but because they make a difference in people’s lives. Mom inviting me to church at 21 years old mattered it ended up defining my life. She would have never guessed what would come of her inviting me to church. She would have never imagined that Sara and I would one day plant a church that reaches people all over the world and has been used to lead people to Jesus.
I thank God for my mom, in a way she saved my life. I hope you have someone in your life who did the little thing that changed your life. I hope you get the opportunity to do something little that will change someone else’s life.
Like last week, I want to encourage you to open your heart to God to be led into someone’s life that needs a little nudge toward Jesus. It doesn’t take much, just a small seed will suffice. Be willing, be bold even, do the little things and watch God turn them into eternal rewards!!
