What Will Outlast You?
“If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is.”
1 Corinthians 3:12–13
When I think about leaving a legacy, my mind immediately goes to something big.
Something you accomplish. Something with your name attached to it. Something people remember you for long after you are gone.
But I’m starting to think legacy is built much more quietly than that.
It is built in the everyday things people see in us.
How we respond when life doesn’t go the way we planned.
How we treat people when there is nothing they can do for us.
Whether we pray first or panic first.
Whether we trust God only when things are good, or whether that trust holds when life gets hard.
In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul describes building with different kinds of materials: gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay and straw. Some materials will withstand the fire. Others won’t.
It made me think about the things I am building into the people around me.
Because whether we realize it or not, people are watching.
Maybe it’s our children or younger people in the church. Maybe it’s a friend who is newer in their faith. Maybe it’s someone we serve alongside every week. We may never know the influence our ordinary faithfulness is having on someone else.
And I think sometimes we put so much pressure on ourselves to say the right thing that we forget how much people learn simply by watching us live it.
They see when we choose generosity even when it would be easier to hold tightly.
They see when we keep showing up when things are difficult.
They see when we serve without needing recognition.
They see when our faith costs us something and we still choose Jesus.
Those are gold, silver and precious stone moments.
Not because we handled everything perfectly, but because we showed someone what trusting God actually looks like outside of a Sunday morning.
Buildings eventually come down. Programs change. Things we work incredibly hard for today may someday be forgotten.
But what God builds in a person can continue into another person, and then another.
That changes the way I think about legacy.
Maybe the question isn’t, “What will people remember about me?”
Maybe it’s, “What will someone know about Jesus because they watched the way I lived?”
That is something worth building.
Reflection:
If someone learned how to follow Jesus simply by watching your life, what would they learn?
Prayer:
God, help me build my life with things that last. Remind me that the way I live my faith can have an impact far beyond what I can see. Help me be faithful in the ordinary moments and live in a way that points the people around me toward You. Amen.
1 Corinthians 3:12–13
When I think about leaving a legacy, my mind immediately goes to something big.
Something you accomplish. Something with your name attached to it. Something people remember you for long after you are gone.
But I’m starting to think legacy is built much more quietly than that.
It is built in the everyday things people see in us.
How we respond when life doesn’t go the way we planned.
How we treat people when there is nothing they can do for us.
Whether we pray first or panic first.
Whether we trust God only when things are good, or whether that trust holds when life gets hard.
In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul describes building with different kinds of materials: gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay and straw. Some materials will withstand the fire. Others won’t.
It made me think about the things I am building into the people around me.
Because whether we realize it or not, people are watching.
Maybe it’s our children or younger people in the church. Maybe it’s a friend who is newer in their faith. Maybe it’s someone we serve alongside every week. We may never know the influence our ordinary faithfulness is having on someone else.
And I think sometimes we put so much pressure on ourselves to say the right thing that we forget how much people learn simply by watching us live it.
They see when we choose generosity even when it would be easier to hold tightly.
They see when we keep showing up when things are difficult.
They see when we serve without needing recognition.
They see when our faith costs us something and we still choose Jesus.
Those are gold, silver and precious stone moments.
Not because we handled everything perfectly, but because we showed someone what trusting God actually looks like outside of a Sunday morning.
Buildings eventually come down. Programs change. Things we work incredibly hard for today may someday be forgotten.
But what God builds in a person can continue into another person, and then another.
That changes the way I think about legacy.
Maybe the question isn’t, “What will people remember about me?”
Maybe it’s, “What will someone know about Jesus because they watched the way I lived?”
That is something worth building.
Reflection:
If someone learned how to follow Jesus simply by watching your life, what would they learn?
Prayer:
God, help me build my life with things that last. Remind me that the way I live my faith can have an impact far beyond what I can see. Help me be faithful in the ordinary moments and live in a way that points the people around me toward You. Amen.
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