What Legacy Will You Leave?
“Love never leaves a heart the way it found it.” – Bill Hybels
That is the legacy I want for my life.
I want others to feel encouraged and loved in my presence both face-to-face and here in my little corner of the blog world.
I want the love of Christ in me to pour into others. Changing them. Letting them know they are loved and valued and worth more than they will ever know.
But in spite of that being my desire, I fall short. I miss opportunities for the real love that changes hearts. Or, I try too hard, somehow missing the point in time where God may have said,
“Enough. Leave the rest up to Me.”
Why do I fall short? At times, I let chaos and busyness prevail while, at other times, I allow my feelings priority over that of pointing to the love of Christ. The love that never leaves a heart the way it found it.
The power isn’t in me and I too easily confuse that. The power is Him in me. So, as I am running from one thing to the other, turning my life into an endless circling racetrack, I’m missing Christ. And I’m missing the opportunity to love others in way that changes hearts. I’m cheating myself of His power.
Are you missing Christ along the endless circling racetrack of life? #chaos #stoptolisten #loveothers #leavealegacy #searchingformoments Share on XBut last month when I heard Bill Hybels (I encourage you to connect with him!) say at the Global Leadership Summit “Love never leaves a heart the way it found it”, I was jolted out complacency.
I remembered those in my life who didn’t leave my heart the way they found it.
Mrs. Priest who played hours of cards accompanied by never ending supplies of Girl Scout thin mints.
Mr. Seaver who not only made junior high biology and chemistry interesting, but as my first basketball coach, encouraged me to see the unique athletic gift I had.
Mr. Moe who, as a structured military man, filled me with math knowledge, but also reached beyond his tough exterior to extend tremendous compassion towards me.
Coach Dressen who believed in me, my skill set, and my ability as a leader, even when I didn’t believe in myself.
Leanne who, as my supervisor during student teaching, saw something special in me and encouraged me to shine. She shared Jesus in a way I hadn’t experienced before. I saw her love Him like crazy with joy and light overflowing. I knew I wanted
life like that.Coleen who encouraged me, mentored me, and became a friend with whom I wouldn’t know how to do life.
These are only a few. There were and thankfully will continue to be so many more. I’m sure their lives were full. I’m sure they were very busy. But they stopped. And they loved me, changing my heart each time.
I’ve been making changes. Pruning where it is possible. Figuring out my best yes’s and stopping to check in so I can hear what God is telling me.
Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
Romans 12:2
I don’t want to miss those moments. I don’t want to miss Christ. And I don’t want to leave the wrong legacy.
It’s not easy, though. Pruning is hard work. Loving is hard work and knowing when to let go is sometimes even harder.
Where do you find yourself on the racetrack? Do you have some pruning to do so that you can leave the legacy God has called you to? Are you running on your own power? Or taking time to fuel up on His?
Dear Heavenly Father, You have so beautifully and uniquely wired each of us to have a story with a call. A call to use our story for Your good. A call to leave a legacy that points to You. Your love never leaves a heart the way it found it and I don’t ever want to be guilty of not pouring out that love into the lives of others. I want desperately to love others well. Lord, fill me with the wisdom and discernment to know when and what to prune out so that I don’t miss You or the opportunities You give me. Thank you for giving each of us the honor of being Your conduit of love. In Your precious and holy name I pray. Amen
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Your prayer is beautiful as I prayed it alongside of you. I have had the same thoughts about my image to the world I meet…as to how I present myself. Am I a picture of Christ to some who may never see another? Am I loving and may change a heart? I love the quote and also your commentary because it is through those who love us, see us unconditionally that change a corner of our hearts and we are never quite the same.
So grateful I came by from Reflect.
Caring through Christ, ~ linda
Thank you, Linda, for your kind words. It truly is something I think we have to constantly check ourselves for. Just as soon as we get comfortable, we can easily fall back into the racetrack trap. Through reading your blog and seeing your love for Christ on “paper”, I am convinced your heart and your witness is a love that changes hearts! May you have a wonderful and blessed week!!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
This is beautiful and what a sweet prayer. Isn’t it such a gift to have a list of people who mentored, shared life with and loved well in our lives. I pray for this very same element to occur in the lives of our children. God knows who to put in our path at the right time so I know He’s got it covered.
Melody, Thank you so much for your encouraging words! I am praying with your for our children!!! And you are right, He does have it covered 🙂 BTW – I absolutely adore your blog title! It makes me smile BIG! I am going to stop by to say hi!!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
This is just so beautiful. Love is so powerful it can change the heart.
“The power isn’t in me. The power is Him in me.” I love this, and I needed this reminder today! Thanks for sharing your heart, Lori–cheering you on from the #RaRaLinkup!
Thank you, Katie, for stopping by and I am so thankful it brought your heart a little sunshine! I feel the encouragement and am so thankful for it!!!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
Beautiful post! I am visiting from #sharewithme ;O)
Thank you so much for visiting and for your kind words! I hope you have a wonderful day!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
Amen, Lori. I am so with you. I don’t want to leave people the way I found them either. I want the power of Christ’s love in me to transform and leave them changed for the better. It’s the second time today God has drawn my attention to that verse from Romans! Love it. So blessed by your words here today. May his love shine through us.
Hi Abby,
It was so nice to see your sweet face and kind words here today. I am so thankful God used my words to bless you! I know that you are changing lives, my friend, as you invest in those around you with your words and your heart!!!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
Hi Lori, what a thoughtful post. What legacy am I leaving behind? That is something to ponder on. Amen to prayers you have shared too.
Thanks and God Bless
Hi Ifeoma,
I always love it when you stop by! I am thankful God is using my words for His good! Something tells me you are in the midst of creating a beautiful legacy, my friend! 😉
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
Oh my, Lori! Leaving a beautiful legacy is something I want to do.
I recently read a FB status of a former student and I felt convicted. She wrote,”Growing up I remember singing “Jesus Loves Me” and I even sing it to my son now, but I don’t really remember being taught God’s Love. We just said it. And that’s about it. Sometimes it seemed that Christianity was only focused on what we should not be doing instead of what we needed to do which is ultimately leading people to Christ by showing true genuine love to others.” Reading those words hit me – hard.
I like to think I left a good legacy on my students. I know I can’t change what they learned from me – hopefully there was some good, but I can make sure from this moment on, I leave a good legacy on those I come in contact with.
Thank you for linking up with Thankful Thursdays.
Your former student’s words are such a true example of what I believe many grow up with. I, too, sang the songs, went to church, loved my church home and believed in God. However, I didn’t grasp His unfailing love for me nor what that means for me on THIS side of the cross! I am without doubt that you left a wonderful legacy for your students just as you are continuing to leave one now through your writing!!
I always love linking up with you at Thankful Thursdays!!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
Thank you for sharing with us at #JoyHopeLive!
Beautiful post & quote from Bill Hybels. Yes! that is the legacy I want to leave as well. May we love others & leave them changed because of His love in us. Blessings!
Amen, Joanne! Thank you so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful week!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
Hi Lori! You’re our Featured #TellHisStory of the week at JenniferDukesLee.com. Thanks for your encouraging words.
Jennifer,
Thank you so much for featuring my story! I am so excited and honored to be a part of your #TellHisStory community! What a fun blessing!
Blessings and big smiles,
Lori
At 31 years old I have so much I wanted to accomplish by now and still haven’t. My to do list are never empty and I feel things just are so far out of reach sometimes and I wonder what my legacy will be when I leave or will I even have one? Its a tough question of what we want it to actually be isn’t it? Thank you so much for linking up to Share With Me #sharewithme
Oh, sweet Jenny, you are creating a beautiful legacy already! One of kindness, love, and support. So, you are heading in a wonderful direction. I can remember when I was younger, though, with my children so little and life in a different kind of chaos than it is now. As much as I loved others and would be involved in ways to engage with and help others, I didn’t have the legacy thing quite defined. That happened later. However, even though now I know what I want it to be, I have to keep myself in check all the time so that I don’t wander off that path. I think our legacy is designed by God. It is what He wants of our lives and when we stay on track we are living out His will.
Thank you so much for visiting. You KNOW how encouraged I feel by your sweet smile and kind words! And thank you for providing the #SharewithMe community!!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
Wonderful examples of those who left your life, your heart in a better place. I hope and pray to be that kind of person.
Congrats on being the featured writer at Jennifer Dukes Lee’s #TellHisStory!
Hi Constance,
I’ve been blessed by some amazing individuals in my life. I think God places people like that in each of our lives, but sometimes we miss the goodness of their offerings! I am so glad I didn’t miss these people! Something tells me that you ARE that kind of person!Thank you so much for the kind words and encouragement!!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
Lovely post, Lori! Thank you for sharing this with us at Grace and Truth last week. You’ll be one of my features tomorrow!
Jen 🙂
Thank you so much, Jen!!I am honored!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
Love this post, Lori! So full of truth and wisdom! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you found truth here!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori