[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 28/Mar/2021]
I have asked myself a few questions recently (you know how it is when you have time on your hands). One of them was “Have you thought about what you would like your legacy to be?” Some of you will have had occasion to think about this more than others. Another way of putting it is “what will people say about you when you’ve gone?”
I was listening to the short reflections on the fruit of the Spirit which people from Spurgeon’s college have kindly recorded. In one of them, Joshua Searle talks about Bede the historian having to grudgingly accept that Aidan, who brought Christ’s message to most of England, was “a man who loved God and lived generously”. It struck me then that the chances are that what people will remember, when you’re gone, is what you did while you were around.
The question should therefore perhaps not be ‘what will people say about you when you’ve left?’, but rather, ‘what do people say about you while you’re here?’
Another question – When you meet people, what impression do you make on them? I’m sure it’s one that we’ve thought of, for instance, just after you walk out of an interview. I have realised though, that if what you want to do is impress people, you’re in for a hard time. You’ll end up often putting on a mask and being literally, a hypocrite. Much better to be yourself, but what if that’s the problem? What if you’re not particularly pleased with yourself?
Well, if that’s the case, you’re not alone. The sermon this week was by Tobi Stathers, from the charity Compassion UK. He quoted from Luke 18, where Jesus told the rich young ruler “Why do you call me good?”……“No one is good – except God alone.” Paul later reminds us why when he says “There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”.
Trying to be a good person in your own strength is not only difficult, it is in truth, impossible. To paraphrase what Paul says, “the more I try to do what’s good, the less I succeed in doing it”. Later on in the passage in Luke, Jesus explains that “What is impossible with man is possible with God”.
So, back to the revised version of my first question “what do people say about you while you’re here?”.
I would want them to say of me, that ‘he modelled love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control’.
Yes, I would like them to say that I manifested the fruit of the Spirit, and by God’s grace, with the help of His Spirit, this is possible. It would be a legacy worth leaving.
And ultimately, my prayer is to hear the words “Well done, good and faithful servant…”. I pray this not just for myself, but for all who read this.
Have a blessed week.
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Contributed by David Makanjuola; © the Author
