Your Legacy Of Faith - Jonathan

“Let’s go across to the outpost of those pagans,” Jonathan said to his armor bearer. “Perhaps the LORD will help us, for nothing can hinder the LORD. He can win a battle whether he has many warriors or only a few!”

1 Samuel 14:6

Pete was a bona fide, on-fire Christian whose commitment to God, his Word, and his church was beyond question. Everything he did and said reflected his reliance on the Holy Spirit and his life’s goal of bringing others to a more mature faith in Christ. This included his own wife and children.

You might think that a man like Pete had been raised in a home where his spiritual growth and sense of faith were encouraged and nurtured, but you would be wrong. As a boy, Pete had a terrible home life. His father was an abusive alcoholic; his mother suffered from manic depression and often escaped her misery through drug abuse.

Pete knew from the moment he committed his life to Christ that he had a lot of work to do if he wanted to begin a legacy of faith in his family. He approached that goal with the kind of passion God honors.

Jonathan, the son of King Saul, was in the same situation as Pete. His father had shown flashes of faith, but his overall lack of spiritual focus led to his ouster as king and a strained relationship with Jonathan.

Jonathan took a much different approach in his relationship with the Lord. Once, he took his armor bearer and daringly left his father and six hundred men at their encampment at Gibeah to launch an overwhelmingly successful attack on Israel’s archenemy, the Philistines.

Jonathan’s dependence on God won the confidence of his assistant: “Do what you think is best,” the armor bearer replied. “I’m with you completely, whatever you decide” (1 Samuel 14:7).

That’s how it works when you make a legacy of faith and commitment to the Lord.

You may not have the spiritual roots that a Christian upbringing has given to some men of faith. You can still begin a family legacy of faith and obedience to God. What are you doing to get started?