A Living Legacy

The godly walk with integrity;blessed are their children who follow them.

Proverbs 20:7

Integrity. Integrity means completeness, rightness, and uprightness. This is living right with God and right with man. What a rare but wonderful thing this is to behold. Those around us—children, families, neighbors, and even strangers—are blessed by a life that is a blessing.

Let me tell you a little story from the book Our Daily Bread.

Newsman Clarence Hall followed American troops around Okinawa in 1945. He came upon a small town that stood out as a beautiful example of a Christian community. He wrote, “We had seen other Okinawan villages, uniformly down-at-the-heels and despairing; by contrast, this one shone like a diamond in a dung heap. Everywhere we were greeted by smiles and dignified bows. Proudly the two old men showed us their spotless homes, their terraced fields . . . and granaries.”

Hall saw no jails and no drunkenness, and divorce was unknown. He learned that an American missionary had come there thirty years earlier. While he was in the village, he’d led two elderly townspeople to Christ and had left them with a Japanese Bible. These new believers studied the Scriptures and started leading their fellow villagers to Jesus. Hall’s jeep driver said he was amazed at the difference between this village and the others around it. He remarked, “So this is what comes out of only a Bible and a couple of old guys who wanted to live like Jesus.”

Make It Personal . . . Live It Out!

Do you ever think, What is my legacy? When you leave a room, or leave a job, or eventually leave this earthly life, what effect will you leave behind? Will others remember unselfish acts of thoughtfulness and service? Will they remember that they saw Jesus in you?

Second Corinthians 2:14 says, “Thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume.”

Let’s Pray

Lord, this really makes me think. I have a Bible, but do the words on the pages truly live in my life? I want to make a difference for good. Today, may my life reflect yours, expressing the sweet fragrance of Christ.

One Year Bible Reading

2 Chronicles 21:1–23:21; Romans 11:13-36; Psalm 22:1-18; Proverbs 20:7