Leaving a Legacy, Part 4

How do you define great?

Webster’s dictionary defines great as "huge, notably large in size, remarkable in magnitude, degree, or effectiveness."

Apply that to life – living a huge life, living a notable life, living a remarkable life…

The question is what is the measurement of great? Or what is the measurement of huge? Let’s get practical -- What does greatness or God honoring character look like?

We can look to JESUS as the perfect example. Jesus not only taught us what greatness was, He SHOWED US what it looked like...with every step He took, every breath He exhaled, and every word He spoke.

I wish that we had more time, because truly this is a whole study in itself, so let me give you some homework. This week read Colossians chapter 3 and look for attributes of a life aiming at holiness.

IF we had more time, we could talk about NOT giving your children everything they ask for BECAUSE we need to teach patience because if they cannot learn to wait in the small things of life how do we expect them to wait for the bigger things such as staying pure for marriage. Or worse, that they grow up believing that that the world owes them a living.

We could talk about teaching your children to serve rather than be served or else they end up in marriages that are troubled because they never learned to sacrifice their wants for another.

We could talk about teaching integrity and not allowing your children to back out of commitments. To have determination and the ability to stick with an undertaking even when they do not feel like it or their flesh tells them to abandon it. So that they are adults they become men and women of their word.

We could talk about teaching our children to recognize God’s sovereignty in their lives learning to praise Him in the good and the difficult because it is at the foundation of being content.

We could talk about not allowing your children free pass access to media just because their friends have it.

Whew, this gets me going!

What I do want to focus on humility.

Humility that is the essence of true greatness. It is foundational to any other Godly attribute. Without humility you cannot be right with the Lord, without humility you cannot truly love others, without humility you cannot be thankful. Without humility you cannot serve.

Do you remember the story from the NT where the Apostles have been arguing on the way to Capernaum about who was the greatest amongst them. Jesus to settle the argument tells them that if anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last and the servant of all. (Mark 9: 35) Elsewhere Jesus said, "He who is least among you all – he is the greatest " (Luke 9).

It comes down to humility.

Now, in our culture, this word “humility” is not a positive attribute. The world sees the humble as people with inferiority problems. Or that to have humility means that you must think poorly about yourself.

That’s NOT Biblical humility. Being humble is NOT the same as being humiliated. To the contrary, the humble are secure in who God made them.

Think of it this way: Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is simply thinking less about yourself.

God's perspective on humility? It's Philippians, chapter 2 -- that's where Paul says that we are to do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit but with humility of mind, we are to regard others as more important than ourselves; not to look out for our own interests merely, but also for the interests of others. And then he goes on to say, "You are to have this mind in you, have the same mindset that Jesus had, who, although He was God, did not regard a quality with God something to be held onto but He emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond servant, being made in the likeness of man and ultimately being crucified on a cross."

Now that's the kind of character that we should want to see molded into the hearts of our children.