Drew Hensley » Family Home Mission Wisdom Calling

Jesus loves working through families, seeing lives changed and legacies of faith built. And there is no greater gift you can pass on to the next generation than the gift of the gospel.

If the focus of your relationship with Jesus is solely based upon you, future generations are at risk. God has a much bigger plan in store for you and your family.

I was looking through old family photos recently and recounting how Jesus first started working in my family, generations ago.

It all started with my grandmother, Margarett Burnette, back in 1955. Her family was growing, and she found a house she really liked. Although she wasn’t a Christian, she made a promise to God that if he gave them the house, she would attend church. Long story short, they got the house, and she kept her promise.

Ray and Margarett Burnette

She found a small Baptist church up the road from their new home to attend. She heard the gospel, the Holy Spirit moved, and she accepted Jesus as her savior.

Not only was her life changed, but the lives of generations to come were changed too.

The effect Jesus had on my grandmother started a ripple effect that has trickled all the way down our family line—starting almost immediately with my grandfather.

If the focus of your relationship with Jesus is solely based upon you, future generations are at risk. God has a much bigger plan in store for you and your family.

My grandfather, Ray, wasn’t open to church at all. But his resistance didn’t stop Margarett from praying for her husband and inviting him to church every Sunday. Finally, after the persistent requests from Margarett, he became so annoyed that he agreed to attend a midweek revival service under one condition: that she would stop asking him to go with her.

Can you guess what happened?

Yep, he met Jesus, and the result has been a lasting legacy throughout our family with brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, aunts, uncles, and cousins meeting Jesus.

Legacy matters

God’s grace and faithfulness towards my grandparents has stretched far beyond their lives to form a continuing legacy of faith. I’m praying that this legacy continues, by God’s grace, to the lives of my future children, grandchildren, and so on.

Jesus loves working through families, seeing lives changed and legacies of faith built. And there is no greater gift you can pass on to the next generation than the gift of the gospel.

Psalm 78:4–7 says, “We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments.”

Jesus loves working through families, seeing lives changed and legacies of faith built.

Here are four lessons about legacy I’ve learned from my family that, by the grace of God, I plan to pass on to my children and grandchildren.

1. Hold to biblical convictions

When it comes to passing on a legacy of faith based on Jesus, it’s critical that you know what you believe and absolutely will not budge on. Where there’s a lack of conviction and compromises are made, legacy gaps are created until there is no legacy of faith left.

2. Follow words with action

It’s not enough to simply say what you believe for future generations to hear. You also need to model it with action. As a child, it made the greater impact on my life not when my mother and father said we should read the Bible, but when I walked into the living room each day and actually saw them reading the Bible.

It’s critical that you know what you believe and absolutely will not budge on.

3. Open the Bible together

I can’t remember a lot from my younger years, but I do remember coming together every night before bed and opening the Bible together as a family. This not only cemented for me the importance of God’s Word and a relationship with Jesus, but opened an active dialogue for me to ask questions and grow in my faith.

4. Pray for present and future generations

I can recount countless times as a child my mother praying over me and for my future: that I would grow up to be a man of God who lived a life devoted to him. God loves to answer prayer by changing lives, changing families, and building legacies.

Your relationship with Jesus has far greater implications beyond your own life. So whether you are the first link in the chain, or you’re keeping the chain going, be thankful for what Jesus has done and be faithful to what he has called you to continue.

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