“I want that when you’re gone,” our daughter laughed as she entered our home in  Vienna, Austria, on her first visit to see us. She was putting her name on a piece of antique furniture, a schrank (wardrobe) we say in German…

I hope she wants much more of “us” after we’ve gone than that!  Surely we will leave her and our other children more than a beautiful vintage piece. But just what will we leave behind?

Or, perhaps, is it best to ask… How am I living today?

We have lost seven friends or family members of friends in the last two weeks.  Tom and I attended a funeral of a dear 96- year old saint this past week. Martha did, indeed, leave behind a beautiful legacy of a life of love and smiles. “She set the bar high,” the minister noted as he shared moments of her years.

We are living our legacy everyday… now.

How do I want to be remembered? How about you? What will your world say at your memorial?

Legacy often implies something tangible left us by another. Fortunes, real estate. You know… treasures and stuff. Or maybe if we could only win the lottery… then we could leave behind a sizable legacy.

Not so, U.S.A. Today reports. “Nearly one-third of lottery winners eventually go bankrupt within three to five years, which is more likely than the average American, according to the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards.

If you are familiar with the book of Ecclesiastes, you know Solomon was a wise, but most unhappy man. He had everything, did everything, learned everything and still considered life to be meaningless. That word is used over 30 times in the 12 chapters of this book in the Bible.

“So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me” (Ecclesiastes 2:17,18).

Imagine his misery! I would not have wanted to be one of his 700 wives or one of 300 concubines (1 Kings 11:3).

Solomon, at times, does hint there are some positives in life…”Go eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do. Always be clothed in white, and anoint your head with oil. Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun— all your meaningless days” Ecclesiastes 9:7,8,9).

You may think Solomon was the only one who felt unhappy and incomplete with all the wealth he accumulated. Another more current celebrity expresses the same thought:

“I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.”Jim Carrey,2005

 We ask, what’s the answer?

Most of us want our legacy to be more than monetary. One survey indicates over 90% of people believe a life well lived is how they want to be remembered.

… you leave tomorrow what you live today.

“This is my commandment, that you love one another just as I have loved you. No one has greater love, no one has shown stronger affection, than to lay down, give up, his own life for his friends” (John 15:12,13) Amplified Version.

I smile, remembering Mary Jane… she left a beautiful legacy of gentleness and softness. She lived an intentional life loving her Lord! Because of her love relationship with Him, she was able to leave an inheritance of love to those in her world. She believed, understood and lived the truth of John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life”.

The gifts she left behind are in such contrast to what my physical father left his family. see here. You leave behind what you live today.

Years ago when Tom and I were scheduled to lead our very first marriage conference, we called all four of our adult children to ask: What is the one thing you would say is something we have given you in our marriage? Without hesitation, all agreed to the same in their own words… “It’s how you show your love to one another… everyday.”

This Valentine’s Day, is a day we celebrate love. May we be conscious of living our legacy. “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:14).

Legacy is not leaving something for people. It’s leaving something in people. —Peter Strople