Legacy
May 28, 2009This morning I read Genesis 26 in my quiet time with God and this chapter is all about Legacy. It’s about Abraham’s financial legacy of wealth, and spiritual legacy of blessing, being passed onto his son Isaac. Sadly, its also about Abraham’s legacy of sin being passed to his son Isaac and his grandson Esau—specifically, his track-record with women. Both Isaac and Esau commit the same sexual blunders as Abraham.
I think the point is that we as parents pass our success, as well as our failures, onto our children. They will succeed in some of the areas we have succeeded. But they will also fail in many of the areas where we have failed. In many cases, our habits will become their habits and our addictions will become theirs. Therefore we have a responsibility, not only as people not to harbor and hold onto bad habits, but as parents to ensure that the legacy passed onto our children is honorable and godly.
Absolutely…I am always proud to see my boys doing something that I know they learned from Dixie or I. But it’s quite humbling to see them doing the negative things that they have observed from us. When thinking of this principle, I always think of Proverbs 22:6.