5 Habits that Birth a Legacy
"His presence was as fatal to dullness as to immorality..."
This amusing eulogy quip was spoken by a contemporary of William Wilberforce (1759-1833) not long after the honorable man died.
Wilberforce tattooed history and then the world with his emancipation of that wickedly downtrodden caste of humans locked in slavery. His legacy endures forever beyond his grave.
Two other notable Christian men who changed their world and are still spoken of this day are:
So - why do these names dwell on? What are common factors that mean a man can leave much more than a headstone behind? How did they live then that they still can live now?
From reading a library of biographies I now observe this pattern of character that births a legacy:
- divine call is consciously counted
- hardship is not fled, finding joy amidst heartache and seeing light through deep darkness
- living for an audience of One, that deadly acquisition of self-forgetfulness
- the readiness to battle for personal and/or public righteousness and
- the daily magnetism of seeking the Lord's presence at daybreak.
'You can't endure in bearing fruit if you sever the root'. ~ John Piper
In 1797 William Wilberforce summed up the habits well for those seeking to leave an abiding legacy, he wrote:
rise on the wings of contemplation, until the praises and censures of men die away upon the ear, and the still small voice of conscience is no longer drowned by the din of this nether world.
Your deeds can live a lot longer than you, but they are born each silent dawn.
Today's Soul Snippet:
"Selfish spirits can never understand sacrifice." ~ Frank Bartleman
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