Lesson Focus: What we Leave Behind

1.Read Proverbs 13:22

Good people leave an inheritance to their grandchildren, but the sinner’s wealth passes to the godly. (NLT)

2.Study Proverbs 13:22

The word legacy is often associated with money or property. But, in its broader use it applies to anything that is “transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor; anything left to us from the past.” And, in that case legacy could be any number of things: legacies can be money or property, but they can be so much more. They can be the way a person lived, did certain things or had a certain way about them. My mother left a legacy of generosity and love, my grandmother left a legacy of caregiving and nurturing. Neither one had riches or property to pass on to others but their legacy lives on today.

You and I will also leave a legacy to those coming behind us. In fact, we are creating that legacy right now, as we live. We might have a will in place, denoting how things will be divided among surviving family members or friends. Someone may in fact have some property to pass down, jewelry or collections to bequeath, but others may have nothing of great material or monetary value, yet their legacy will still be great. Every time we look at or wear a cross, we are holding or looking at the legacy Jesus left. The cross symbolizes selflessness, love, forgiveness of sins, salvation, redemption. But it symbolizes more than Jesus’ death, it also helps us reflect on his life. How he was kind and generous, patient, understanding, truthful, giving.

Jesus’s legacy is a great way to remember while material or monetary legacies are nice, nothing takes the place of or is greater than those legacies established by our character and heart.      

3.Meditate on Proverbs 13:22

What part of Proverbs 13:22 touched you the most? What part will you meditate on today as you go about your tasks and day?

4.Praying Proverbs 13:22

Sometimes, Lord, we want to be able to leave a nice inheritance a great legacy for those coming behind us. thank you for the reminder that the best legacies are not established or defined by material or earthly riches but things such as character, our heart, he way we lived our live have as much, and even more meaning for those we leave behind. Amen