Inheritance happens slowly, little by little, day by day. The food we serve says something about nutrition. The tone of voice, the places we go, the movies we watch, the friends we associate with, the churches we attend, the prayers we pray, the attitudes we display, the way we treat our spouses, our neighbors, our pets, our children-a thousand things and more add up to a way of life we are passing on to our children. Bill Carmichael
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 says, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
This passage challenges us to create an “in-life” seminar for our families. To pass on a godly legacy we must first passionately love the Lord and have our hearts filled with the Word of God. Then we are to purposefully create an environment where God’s Word is incorporated into every aspect of our daily life. In this way we pass on not just religious instruction, but a way of life.
A key ingredient in this process is “telling your story.” Everyone has a story. God has been writing a unique and living story in your life. Your mission is to identify that story and pass it on to succeeding generations. You are to look for those places where God is “showing up” in the normal activities of life. You introduce the next generation to “the ways of the Lord” by incorporating His Word into those ordinary times when you are “sitting at home…, walking along the road…, lying down…, and getting up.”
So, what’s your story? It consists of your family history, your spiritual journey, answers to prayer, significant milestones, challenges you have overcome, insights from your failures, and spiritual values that shaped your choices. Don’t minimize what God has done and is doing in your life. Begin today to “impress” the ways of the Lord on the next generation whenever the opportunity arises.