In the Christian context, I believe leaving a legacy behind means fulfilling the purpose(s) of God during your allotted time here on Earth, but I want you to consider this in this context, how are you building your legacy at university? You potentially have 3 years to build, grow and leave a legacy in your spheres of influence.
There are so many Biblical characters that left outstanding legacies behind
Joseph’s legacy of being sold as a slave by his own brothers also extends to him becoming a Governor of Egypt.
Esther stepped out in full confidence, with her life on the line, before a King to save her people.
King David served the purpose of God in His own generation by establishing the Lord’s Word, His Justice, and His Kingdom here on Earth.
And of course, Jesus Christ. He left a remarkable legacy of conquering sin, death and hell through his resurrection to eternal life; so that whoever believes and follows Him will not perish but have eternal life.
For me, I think Ecclesiastes 12:13 exemplifies what the ideal legacy is for us.
It says, “Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”
Now here’s a question, why does the writer call it ‘the whole duty’? In other words, could it mean ‘the whole purpose of a man, including all people? When we rephrase that sentence, it could be something like this: “The whole purpose of mankind is to fear God and to do what He wants us to do, nothing more and nothing less”.
Leaving a legacy of godly obedience
The purpose of life for every human being comes from God. It is not self-made. What you do is solely accounted to you. There is no system of proxy for your life. Whether you mess with it or produce meaning from it is your responsibility. Let’s face it: we’ve got to fulfil the purpose for which we were created in the first place. God alone knows the blueprint of our lives. The more we delay and disobey, the less of a godly legacy we will leave behind.
As followers of Christ, no matter what stage we are in life, being mindful of leaving a godly legacy is important.
As a student, what legacy can you leave behind at university? Where has God placed you to have influence and to bear witness? In your halls of residence, a sports team, a society?
I have no doubt in my mind that when we tell people that we are a Christian, they watch us. They watch the way we live our lives, how we speak about others, if our actions match our words because ultimately they want to see if following Jesus makes a shred of difference to us.
You have an incredible opportunity over this time at Uni to sow seeds of truth and have deep impact in peoples lives, one that might just leave a legacy that leads to salvation.
