Passing Down What Matters: The Best Legacy

We pass down many things to others as we travel this journey called life. I passed down my love for reading to my children. My husband passed down his love for running and hiking to them. In fact, while they were growing up, they called themselves “The Mighty Hikers.” My daughter, now married with children of her own, is passing down many things to her children, one of which is her love for the band, Hanson. 

She has loved that band and its music since she was a young teen. She and her cousin would search for every snippet of information they could find on the band. I’d hear them whispering and giggling about them as if they knew them, and watch as they jumped up and down when a new song came out. They even talked my sister-in-law into taking them to a concert more than two hours away. What a memory that turned out to be. Not only did they attend the concert, but they actually were able to go backstage, meet them, and take pictures with them. Believe me, I heard the details of that night more times than I can count.

I know for a fact my daughter is being successful at passing down her love for Hanson to her kids. At Christmas time, the only CD my seven and five-year-old grandchildren wanted to hear was the Hanson Christmas CD. When we went to Disney World with her family last October, my husband and I were abandoned one night because Hanson was playing at Epcot. My daughter and her family stood among the crowd, the kids singing and dancing to the music. And just this past weekend, they drove almost three hours and stayed overnight in a hotel, so they could see Hanson play with the symphony. My grandchildren, not wanting to miss anything, used binoculars so they could see every detail. Oh yes, they’ve caught the love of Hanson from my daughter.

Why is it so easy to pass down music preferences, activity preferences, even food preferences, but so difficult to pass down what truly matters? As Christians, I think we can learn a few lessons from my daughter’s love for Hanson. For instance, just as she never tired of hearing Hanson’s music or learning details about their lives, we should never tire of hearing the Good News of the Gospel. Hearing about Jesus, His life, death, and resurrection is something we should want to do and be excited about. Unlike enjoying a band’s music, what Jesus did for us has eternal ramifications for our lives. We possess eternal life because we know Jesus and the Gospel. That’s something to be excited about.

We can learn another lesson. My daughter used to play Hanson songs, over and over and over again, making sure to learn each and every word. For Christians, this equates to reading and studying God’s Word. We don’t just read the Bible once. No, we read it over and over again, memorizing scriptures, and always learning something new. The difference between reading the Bible and listening to Hanson is that while we may enjoy listening to their music, reading the Bible goes far beyond enjoyment. The scriptures, if we let them, will transform us, change us, and grow our faith. The goal of our faith is to become more and more like Jesus, and that happens by reading, memorizing,  and applying His Word.

The final lesson we can learn from my daughter’s love for Hanson, has to do with passing it down. She has done a great job of passing down her love for that band. We need to do an equally good job of passing down our love for Jesus to our children, families, friends, and all we meet. This is our main purpose in life. Paul talks about it in 2 Corinthians 5:16-20. 

It’s now up to us. We are Christ’s ambassadors. Know the Gospel message. Never tire of hearing it and sharing it, because passing God’s message and His love down to others, is the only thing that truly matters. You couldn’t ask for a better legacy.