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Episode 20- How to Leave a Legacy of Faith
83 Plays3 years ago
Mentioned in this episode:
Specific questions to ask yourself when thinking about the legacy you want to leave:
In what ways have you been most significantly influenced by your family of origin?
What habits, values, or qualities have you received from your family that you would like to leave behind?
What habits, values, or qualities have you received from your family that you would like to keep?
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This podcast is produced and edited by Angie Elkins Media, Inc.
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Transcript
Introduction and Purpose of Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Hi, I'm Ruth Schwank and I'm so thrilled you're listening in with us at Root Like Faith. It is our deepest desire to encourage and equip men and women to be rooted in God's word, transformed by the love of Jesus and moved by his mission in the power of the Holy Spirit. Nothing is more important.
Father's Day and Legacy of Faith
00:00:18
Speaker
Well, on today's episode of Root Like Faith, this, hey, this is our final wrap up episode in our Family Faith series. So this last episode, we're going to talk about what it means to leave a legacy of faith in your family and why it matters. And guess what? It's kind of perfect timing because it's almost Father's Day. So let's get going.
00:00:43
Speaker
Well, we are wrapping up our series here on Faith in the Family. We hope that you've loved it as much as we have. We could talk about it. We covered a lot of ground. We have. Wow. I feel exhausted. No. Well, first of all, OK, so we're wrapping it up. And it's almost perfect timing because it's almost Father's Day.
00:01:02
Speaker
It is almost Father's Day. You stole my life. Sound the band. It's almost Father's Day. Happy. I can only imagine. Happy almost Father's Day. Thank you, honey. Thank you. I can only imagine the celebration you're going to throw this Sunday. It gives me chills. What did you want for Father's Day? Oh, anyways, we're wrapping up this series. That's not funny, honey. OK, sorry. Well, hopefully you've already purchased it.
Leaving a Legacy of Faith: Challenges and Insights
00:01:30
Speaker
We thought it would the perfect way to wrap up this series would be to talk about Leaving a legacy of faith because really that's when it comes down to it That's what we want to do is we want to leave a legacy of faith So what is a legacy like I don't know I feel like people talk about this all the time like leaving a legacy, but it feels I don't know scary I
00:01:53
Speaker
It feels scary and overwhelming. Are we supposed to mention now that we are taking a short break for just a couple weeks, or are you doing that at the end? Well, it's OK. We'll do that at the end. OK. Oh, my word. Because I'm really excited about our summer series. I know, but we have to finish this series first. I feel like we're in your beaver right now. I'm just trying to get to that.
00:02:10
Speaker
Oh, because it's all about theology, but I will let you- Okay, so we've got some great interviews planned- Okay, honey, honey, we'll talk about it at the end. Okay, all right, all right. But let's start- Some legacy. First, we have to wrap up this series. Yes. So let's talk about legacy. And what is legacy? Let's start there. What is a legacy?
00:02:27
Speaker
Well, I think, you know, one of the just simple ways I like to think about legacy, it's the footprints that you're leaving behind or that you've left behind. And so, like, you just think about, you know, everybody is leaving a legacy. And so, like, I know we go up north to your parents' house and what's so funny.
00:02:42
Speaker
I wanna laugh because I'm remembering that poem called Footprints in the Sand. When you say legacy are the footprints that you leave behind, I'm picturing a picture of footprints in the sand in that poem, like it's everywhere. Anyways, okay, go on.
00:03:01
Speaker
Well, and that is a good, I mean, the reality is that you leave footprints behind. And so you think that in a very good way and sometimes in a negative way. And so in essence, that's what it means. I mean, you're leaving your mark on those that will come after you. And so I mean, just think about, you know, your own parents or grandparents, my parents, my, you know,
00:03:22
Speaker
I think, I was sharing recently that one of the things I'm so thankful for when I think, like there's lots of things that I feel like that my parents, the marks they left behind were really positive. The legacy
Personal Stories of Family and Legacy
00:03:34
Speaker
they left. I think about my dad, you know, my dad, I used to call my dad, gentle jean, the tender machine. Yep, gentle jean. And he just like, you could drive a car over his foot and he would not get upset. He just was the most patient, kind man of the world. And he was, he was gentle, he was caring. And he was such a servant.
00:03:51
Speaker
Yeah, he definitely will. You definitely get that from him, honey. Well, thank you. And I am very thankful. You serve me all the time. I think when it comes to your love language, I think acts of service is one of them. Acts of service is one of them. And gifts, I really, man, greatest my reward in heaven. Those are the best. My word. But anyways, I really do. I can see that in your life. That legacy, he definitely
00:04:15
Speaker
left his mark upon you because you are very servant oriented no matter where you're at. Yeah and he just I saw that modeled by him and I think my sisters would absolutely agree with that he just was a servant he was always the first one up from the table after dinner and you know washing the dishes those kinds of things.
00:04:33
Speaker
And I'm so thankful for that. And my mom, you know, my mom was, you know, she just was an incredibly hard worker and was, you know, I think somebody, as I've shared before, when I think about the last three years in particular in my life, somebody who left a legacy of just how to suffer well and how to endure and how to walk, you know, by faith and to, you know, trust in God's grace and rest in that.
00:04:55
Speaker
And so those are some marks or footprints that my parents left behind in particular. But what about you? What are some things that you're thankful for when you think about just the legacy of obviously your own parents are still alive and very much a part of our lives? Well, my grandparents who aren't alive, I feel like the legacy that they left, they lived a very consistent, quiet life. I don't know how else to say it than that. That is a great description. And I feel like that,
00:05:25
Speaker
Wow, I feel like I could get emotional. But it is. It really impacted me because they were a safe place for me. And their consistency in life encouraged me to be consistent and steady in my life. And so I think that there's different qualities that people in our life, they have that impact us in a positive way. Of course, there's things that impact us negatively, what we're talking about, the positive.
00:05:52
Speaker
And I also think about my youth pastor, the impact that he had on me in just teaching me truths in the Bible that were important when I was a brand new Christian.
Impact Beyond Family: Community and Faith
00:06:04
Speaker
And how could he have, he didn't know that I would spend my whole life in ministry. So whoa, I feel like this, I didn't think that the legacy episode would be so emotional, but now that I think about it, it really is emotional as you start to think.
00:06:19
Speaker
about the impact that people have in your life. And I think what's really amazing is when you realize that that is the same impact that you can have on others. And of course, I didn't even mention my parents and they've had all sorts of positive impact on me. They're hard workers. They've loved well.
00:06:40
Speaker
And I'm so grateful they are still here today. But there's just so many people in my life that have left a legacy or impact on me.
00:06:50
Speaker
Well, I think that, you know, one of the things that just as you're talking about that and is, it just, it stirs emotion for a variety of reasons. I think one of the things I've thought a lot about over the last couple of years, and it just, as you were talking and reminded me of that, when you think about the God of the Bible, he's oftentimes referred to as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It's just,
00:07:14
Speaker
that idea that he's the God, he's not just my God, but he's the God of generations, and that idea that you and I stand in a long line of people that have come before us and that people will come after us. And that is sobering, and there's just such emotion in that, there's gratitude in that when you think about
00:07:34
Speaker
Those that have come before us that were faithful to God, that walked with Him, that passed on faith, that passed on a living example of a living faith. And they took their turn in terms of, in their generation, they were faithful to God.
00:07:51
Speaker
And so there's parts of that that are sobering and humbling and inspire gratitude and awe. And so as you were talking about that, it reminded me of that, that we really do serve a God who's the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He's a God of generations.
00:08:06
Speaker
and there are so many people that come before us that shape us and make us who we are and there'll be people that come after us that we're shaping right now and it's just it's a powerful thought yeah well I when you begin really thinking about that I think it's just all of a sudden you go oh wow I could have an impact on somebody like that and it doesn't just of course it's our it's our family it's our kids and that's what we've been talking about
00:08:30
Speaker
But our family can extend to like, I think about us, you know, kids in the neighborhood. I mean, we have kids at our house all the time and you just don't realize the impact. You don't even know the impact that you could have on somebody that's not even in your immediate family.
00:08:45
Speaker
That's right. But I think so many times, I think, you know, you just, it's, that can be really scary too, because you think about some of the stuff, even the best of parents, we pass on stuff that we would not like. And I think about, you know, just my own life and the things that you go, oh, I wish I could go back and do that season over again, or those circumstances.
00:09:05
Speaker
And yet love covers over a multitude of sins. And God is so good and so gracious. He uses it all. And so God is so good to take our regret and to redeem that and to work even in spite of the things that we don't do the right way.
00:09:19
Speaker
Yeah, okay, so a legacy, it's like these footprints that we leave behind, but where do we begin? What should we be remembering and thinking about when we think about leaving a legacy and just the importance of leaving a legacy? Where do we even start?
00:09:38
Speaker
Well, I think, you know, one of the things we said already, I think, first of all, is just to remember that everybody is leaving a legacy, you know, and to have that in mind, that everybody is really leaving a legacy, whether we, whether we, you know, whether we like it or not, like our life is going to leave a mark. Right. And so I think the first thing that I know that sounds really obvious is just to be aware of that. I think that causes us to live differently and to have that perspective and go, wow, my life really does matter.
00:10:04
Speaker
And my life matters not just for me, but it matters for my kids and my grandkids and their grandkids. And so it's just living with that perspective that whether we want to or not, we're going to leave a mark. And so just having that perspective I think is really important. But I think secondly,
00:10:19
Speaker
is just really, I think, starting where we want to finish. And so I think of Psalm 90 verse 12 that says to number your days, to have a heart of wisdom is to number your days. And it's that idea that we count our days or we number our days to make them count. And so I think starting where we want to end. And so I think sometimes just going, okay, yeah, a heart of wisdom means
00:10:44
Speaker
looking ahead to the future and thinking about what kind of legacy do I want to leave. And then in a sense, orienting my life around how I want to leave that legacy. And so I think it's beginning with the end in mind. And so we count our days to make our days count. That's what the psalmist is really talking about in Psalm 90 verse 12.
00:11:08
Speaker
Yeah and I think you know we brought up this point already but just want to come back I want to come back to it is just thinking about we're kind of recounting the ways people have had an impact on us I think it's actually really good to think about that because it's good to ponder that ask ourselves what is it that you know what kind of impact did this person have on my life what was positive about it because I feel like that then in turn changes the way I impact others and so I think it is
00:11:37
Speaker
Like, that's a really good place to start as well, is to really think carefully through that.
Biblical Examples of Lasting Legacy
00:11:43
Speaker
So let's talk about what the Bible has to say about legacy. And I know we talk about Hebrews 11 a lot. I love Hebrews 11. I know, honey. That is one of my favorite chapters. Well, I do too. I mean, we should, right? It's in the Bible. I guess we don't have to love everything that happens in the Bible, because some of it we might not like.
00:12:02
Speaker
But, you know, I think that this is a huge, I think, what is it called? The Hall of Faith? Or is that what this scripture has been called before? You know, when you think about the Hall of Fame, this is the Hall of Faith. Okay. And so those that have come before us, you know, Hebrews 11 is such a great chapter because it lists all of these men and women.
00:12:19
Speaker
that were faithful to God, that responded to God's call in their life and responded to being, you know, being asked to be faithful to God in a variety of different situations and circumstances and seasons. And one of the sort of the reoccurring, you know, statements that you see or the language that you see throughout Hebrews 11 is it says, by faith, so and so did this. Right. By faith, so and so did this. And so it's really this, this, you know, chapter
00:12:49
Speaker
that really retells the legacy, the kind of life that was left behind by these different men and women of God. And so I think when you're thinking about leaving a legacy, Hebrews 11 is such a great chapter to go to and to read and to meditate.
00:13:04
Speaker
and to really think deeply on, because it's this list of men and women who've come before us that have left a great legacy of faith or faithfulness. And what's interesting and makes sure when you have a chance you read through Hebrews 11, what's interesting is some of these men and women, or maybe all of them, it's not like they were always like perfect Christians. You know what I mean? It wasn't like they always were like following God with their whole heart and nothing made them doubt.
00:13:31
Speaker
But it's but it just I just feel like that's so real, you know, like they struggled to just like us. But by faith, they lived obedient to God. They lived faithful lives. Even when we can look at the picture like the Bible will tell us about their life in the areas that they messed up or they struggled or they sinned and in all of that, God still sees that they lived by faith. And I feel like that's so encouraging because the pressure we can put on ourselves to be perfect and leave a perfect legacy. Well, first of all, it's unattainable.
00:14:01
Speaker
But second of all, God uses us anyways. I mean, the hero of the Bible is Jesus. Right. It points to him and what he's accomplished. And yet we read over and over again, you know, different examples that are meant for our good that sometimes, you know, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians, or sometimes there's examples that are meant to be a warning to us.
00:14:21
Speaker
But Hebrews 11 is this great list, again, of men and women who were following Jesus, who had their eyes on him, who were not perfect by any means. You know, God's the hero of the story, and yet these were men and women that were commended for their faith. I mean, the writer of Hebrews says it's impossible to please God without faith.
00:14:36
Speaker
And so these are men and women that believed God who they trusted him. They were looking forward to the promises of God. Some of them had not yet seen the things that were promised and they were seeing them from a distance. And there were things that they were never going to possess here on earth.
00:14:54
Speaker
And they took their last breath, still believing that what God had promised them was going to come true, that God was not going to forsake them, that he is a God who keeps his word. And so there's just so many rich things that I think we see in this legacy of faith that's left behind by these men and women that are mentioned in Hebrews 11.
00:15:10
Speaker
And I just feel like this was just the perfect way to wrap up this whole series on faith in the family, because that's really what it is all about, is leaving this legacy.
Personal Impact on Future Generations
00:15:23
Speaker
Like when it comes down to it, and if you haven't had a chance, be sure to listen to the last episodes about faith in the family. We cover all sorts of stuff, but it really culminates here with this legacy that then we leave and we just
00:15:39
Speaker
We I feel like and I'm maybe I'm just speaking for myself, but we underestimate the impact that we can have on future generations. And so that's, you know, ultimately why this is all so important. And I think it's important to remember is we're talking about a legacy like, you know, and I know other people have said this and I don't know who it originated with. But but those men and women that came before us, they weren't trying, they weren't necessarily trying to leave a legacy. They're just trying to be obedient.
00:16:05
Speaker
That's all. That's a great point. And they weren't necessarily trying to do anything great. They were just trying to be faithful. And so I think as we think about that, our first call is to love Jesus and to be faithful to Him and to be obedient to Him in whatever season or circumstances that we find ourselves in or whatever it is that He's asked us to walk through. And that's the legacy that we will leave behind. And I think that it looks so different for each of us.
00:16:30
Speaker
as we think about being a mom or a dad or a family. I mean, all of us are walking through such different things. And some of us feel like we're winning right now. Some of us feel like we're losing. And so it's just, again, this is like the emotional episode.
00:16:46
Speaker
But I just am reminded of, yeah, just how good God is and that his grace really is sufficient. And and that is the motivation of our heart is just to honor God, to love him, to trust him. And how we do that then will be the legacy that we leave behind. But these men and women weren't necessarily going out and trying to do something great or trying to be successful in the world's eyes. They just wanted to please God and walk with him. I love that. They just wanted to be faithful and we're called to do the same.
Upcoming Series and Listener Engagement
00:17:11
Speaker
Well, honey, it's time to talk about the summer series. We wanted to wrap up.
00:17:15
Speaker
Did you want to give a couple really practical ways for people to think about how to leave a legacy? I know we've written about this in the past. And so I don't know if maybe just a handful of questions that might be helpful or you want to link to that. We'll put those in the show notes so that you have those. Because I think I mentioned some of them when I was talking a little bit earlier. But if you want specific questions to ask yourself, I'll make sure that we put those in the show notes. I think that was a great idea.
00:17:43
Speaker
So I wanted to give just we wanted to wrap up this episode talking about our summer series, which will start in a few weeks. So we're going to have a break here for a few weeks. So hold on tight. But the reason we're having a break is because we are starting for the very first summer this summer series, which hold summer school. Oh, yeah, summer school, summer school. And it's going to be awesome. It is going to be great. We're going to do I think it's about eight weeks that we're going to do summer school.
00:18:13
Speaker
And it's going to be sort of like a little mini-class. And we're going to be talking about, in particular, in this summer school series. And maybe we'll do a summer school series every summer. That would be kind of fun, actually. We'll see how it goes this year. But we have some grace. So what we're going to do is we're going to basically be covering, it's going to be kind of a theology 101 or Bible basics. And so we're going to be talking about what is the Bible? Can the Bible be trusted?
00:18:38
Speaker
and I'm going to be interviewing Sean McDowell, who many people, if you're my generation, you remember Josh McDowell. It's Josh McDowell's son. He's a professor out of Biola, and he's going to be talking about the reliability of the Bible. It's going to be a great interview. We're going to be talking about the Holy Spirit. Who is the Holy Spirit and are all the gifts still available to us today? I'm going to be interviewing Dr. Sam Storms.
00:18:58
Speaker
who's a theologian, also a pastor. And so we're gonna be talking about some gifts of the Spirit. We're gonna be talking about the Trinity. We're gonna talk about who Jesus is. We're gonna be just talking about some really fundamental doctrines, beliefs that relate to the Christian faith. We have some great interviews, and I am just super geeked about it. I am. Can you tell? Yes, and that's why I wanted to make sure that we had time to just talk about it briefly. But I think what I want the listener to understand, our friends that are listening, is that
00:19:28
Speaker
When we are trying to understand these different issues of the Bible, whether scripture is reliable, sometimes it can feel so complex. Summer school is meant to kind of bring it down so that we can actually understand it.
00:19:44
Speaker
when it's all about rooting ourself in Christ, it's about equipping ourselves, it's about growing in our relationship with Jesus, it's about being a more effective witness for Jesus. And so all of those things, hopefully we can accomplish in this series. And so we just really are praying that it's gonna be beneficial. And so- Well, I think that you're really gifted at that, at bringing these ideas that sometimes seem really complex down to the level where we can all understand them.
00:20:12
Speaker
And so be prepared, this is gonna be awesome. Summer series starts in just a few weeks, the very beginning of July, and of course we'll still be releasing them every Tuesday, so that's when you'll want to make sure that you're listening in, and yay, I'm so excited. I know you're really excited, honey. Because this is your thing, okay. I don't feel totally equipped to teach something like this, but you, you've got this, so. We'll see, we'll see. If we see, if we see listens just dramatically drop off,
00:20:41
Speaker
Well, no, we're never going to try that again. No, I feel like this is important. So this is our very first summer school and we want you to join us. It's going to be really, really awesome.
00:20:52
Speaker
Well, friend, we are so grateful that you have joined us today. If we haven't met, we want to get to know you. Be sure to follow us on Instagram at Patrick W. Schwank and at Ruth Schwank or on Facebook. Also, don't forget, everything we talked about will be at rootlikefaith.com, forward slash podcast. Again, we welcome you into our family here at Root Like Faith.
00:21:15
Speaker
Would you do us a big favor and leave us a review or rating and share this podcast with your friends? It just takes a second. It's a tremendous help to us as we spread the word about root-like faith and be sure to tag us on social media. We are so grateful for your help in getting the word out. All right, friend. Well, we will chat soon and we hope you have the best week.