I've put some major thought into this recently. I'd be lying if the song Legacy by Sanctus Real had nothing to do with it. But I thought I'd provide somethings for you guys to chew on with me.
"I want to leave a legacy to be remembered."
I don't think it's too hard to say that everyone wants to be remembered. Who wants to just fade away into history anyway right? This doesn't exclude me. Of course I want people to look back on me and the life I lived and say: "man, Cory was on to something there. He did some great things and he was a great person." I've been wrestling with this concept in itself. Here's a question: Should we want to be remembered? Should that be the reason we are living out our lives? Right now I'm even wrestling with how to word all of this correctly so I apologize if I may be confusing. Should we be living out our lives today, as christians, doing good deeds and so forth to be remembered for them? It sounds selfish worded that way right?
Here's another question: should we want to be remembered? It sounds right to say that we should be doing things for the good of others without feeling like we have to be recognized for them. So we are living by Christ's example and serving others and putting them before ourselves but no one remembers us for it. Is that even possible? Is it possible for us to live by Christ's example without being remembered? I realize that this has turned into a rat's nest of questions and confusion but bear with me. (if you are up to the challenge that is) While I was on this train of thought, it has brought me to analyze my own life. Do I want people to remember the things I've done? More importantly, what are they going to remember me by? Am I going to leave a legacy of jealousy and conceit or are they going to remember me as some one who stepped out of his comfort zone, went the extra mile, and actually LOVED people?
Altogether I believe this whole thought process hasn't been entirely fruitless. I've learned that there are some corrections that I need to make in my own life. By playing the 'what would they remember me by.." game I've learned I need to worry about someone other than myself. If this involves leaving my own legacy by doing things to be remembered by or letting myself and my actions fade into the shadows of history I cannot say. I don't claim to understand all of this, these are just questions I thought have no clear cut answer. I know there are so many other little subjects and discussions involving our faith that are just so trivial and confusing but from what I've learned by thinking about this, it isn't any different. I think this subject doesn't get as much attention as it deserves. I believe it plays an important part in our spiritual development and it shouldn't go unnoticed. In any case, those are a couple of questions I thought I'd pose to you all because I'd like to hear what you all think. Discussions have never gone over well on my blog but I'm hoping this one does. I might follow it up with my more personal thoughts afterwards. Until then, this post is open to discussion! Now go!
EDIT:
So I've been thinking about this discussion still and reading all of your comments and I've come to the conclusion that we all have a legacy to leave. Our legacy doesn't belong solely to us, but rather, we share it. As followers of Christ, who try to live our lives based on his example I believe that we are becoming part of Christ's legacy, and may in fact be his legacy. "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy spirit.." Not idle words. We'd be inviting people to take part in Christ's legacy and take it further. So I guess I'm saying Christ's legacy is our legacy. In this sense, I would say it's very important what kind of a legacy we leave behind then.
EDIT:
So I've been thinking about this discussion still and reading all of your comments and I've come to the conclusion that we all have a legacy to leave. Our legacy doesn't belong solely to us, but rather, we share it. As followers of Christ, who try to live our lives based on his example I believe that we are becoming part of Christ's legacy, and may in fact be his legacy. "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, and of the son, and of the holy spirit.." Not idle words. We'd be inviting people to take part in Christ's legacy and take it further. So I guess I'm saying Christ's legacy is our legacy. In this sense, I would say it's very important what kind of a legacy we leave behind then.
