Today is Father’s Day and I think for once, I say that advisedly, our fathers deserve to be celebrated. You know in the past if you want to determine the success of a man, you will ask how many children has he trained, today what it takes to train a single child only daddies will tell you, please celebrate our daddies in the house.
Let us pray that all our daddies will continue to be valid, that their validity will not expire and that the Lord will continue to bless them in every respect – spiritual blessings, financial blessings, physical blessings, emotional blessings, in the name of Jesus. Thank You Father, blessed be Your name, in Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
Today is the grand finale of the training weekend and that covers the Sunday school that we all enjoy their teachings every Sunday, the School of Mission, School of Disciples and the Bible College also, all of these departments engage in training us in one doctrine or the other, we should also celebrate the trainers of all of us, let us say that the Lord will continue to encourage them and bless them with wisdom, knowledge and understanding so that we can continue to drink from their fountain of knowledge, they will be coming up later to do their thanksgiving, so we should be expectant that that will come, amen.
Then in pursuance of the training weekend, today we’ll be speaking about a topic that is intended to also guide us by way of training so to speak and the title is Living for a Legacy; we’ve taken the text from the Book of Romans 12: 1-13, I will read that quickly; “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 3For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
4For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: 5So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. 6Having them gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; 7or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; 8or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness. 9Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. 10Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another. 11Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; 12rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; 13distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.
Now this scripture teaches us that there are some gifts that have been given to each one of us which differs one from another, which means there is no man that is completely useless, every one of us has been given a gift by God, it is only that we have not searched well to be able to know the gift, so the question is, what is the legacy that you want to leave with your own gift? Each one of us has been given a gift and various types of gifts that you will find in that scripture, what is the legacy that you want to leave with your gift?
So what is the meaning of legacy? Let’s start from the meaning of legacy; I take the online dictionary meaning which says the long lasting impact of particular events or actions that took place in the past or of a person’s life; it could also mean money or property that you leave for those who succeed you, so there are two aspects of a legacy that we will be looking at today: one, material legacy, that’s money, property; then reputational legacy, and we will compare the two and see which we should earnestly pursue.
So what is material legacy? Material legacy refers to money, property, assets, that you give to people by way of impacting on their lives or by way of inheritance. There are two ways you can do that – you can give a legacy during your lifetime when it comes to material legacy and you can do it by will; the one you do during the lifetime is what the lawyers called ‘a gift inter vivo’, that is a gift that you give to people when you are still alive, the alternative way of leaving that legacy is you write a will.
Many people prefer to do this during their lifetime today because of problems, where people begin to fight over what they did not labor for, so the difference between the ‘gift inter vivos’ and the ‘gift by will’ is that the gift of inter vivos take effect during the lifetime of the giver, the person who is living the legacy, but a will is said to be ambulatory, that is the language, that is it takes effect after the death of the testator.
It is surprising that these days some people ask they want to know what is in the will of their father or their husband, a lady has asked her husband before that she wanted to know what is in his will and the man called me, I said look, it’s like this woman wants him to die that is already asking for what is the provision in your will, a will takes effect after the death of the man and you can even amend your will by a codicil, something you do to correct or to add to or to take away.
And it has happened a man has given properties to people in his will before and because somebody annoyed him terribly, he ran back to the lawyer and said look, I want to change what I put in the will drastically, almost a 360° turn around and changed everything; so even if the man says this is what is in the will today, it does not mean that that is what will be in the will at the end because it can still be changed because the will does not take effect until the man has died.
If you look at the Book of Hebrews 9: 16-17, it says for where a testament is, there must also of necessity be death of the testator. 17For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator lives; you cannot go and take the will of a man when he’s still alive and say you want to enforce it, it has no force even though he has signed off in the presence of two witnesses and you stumble on it and you take it to court that I want to take my legacy, is of no force, while the man is still alive, a will have no effect as opposed to the gift inter vivos.
Now let’s look at the vanity of material legacy, the vanity of material legacy is that it is susceptible to uncertain eventualities and why do we say this, no one can confidently say that what you leave for your children will be prudently managed, no one; no man can satisfy himself that what he’s leaving behind whether for A or for B will be prudently managed. You have labored, you have struggled, you say you give to A, this you give to B, what is the assurance that they will prudently manage them?
Ecclesiastes 2: 18 – 20 (NLT – the New Living Translation), it says I came to hate all my hard work here on earth, for I must leave to others everything I have earned. 19And who can tell whether my successors will be wise or foolish? Yet they will control everything I have gained by my skill and hard work under the sun. How meaningless! 20So I gave up in despair, questioning the value of all my hard work in this world. This scripture is loaded with meanings that when you struggle to acquire, you build up wealth, you build up everything, by the time you are dead you cannot control anything again, what happens to all that you have done, nobody can tell you, so you may be lucky they will multiply them and you may be unlucky they will run everything around, it depends on how your own faith is.
There have been stories of siblings fighting over their father’s assets even before the father is buried; there was even the case of a man who died and the children did not produce one kobo to bury him, they were waiting for the will to be read so that they can take their own but nobody brought one kobo to contribute to the burial of the man. There are cases where brothers and sisters fight the wife of their brother even before the man is buried, the brothers will go and meet the wife, ‘where is the key to the car, where is the money,’ even while the man is still in the mortuary because he’s our brother, may the Lord not make that our portion in the mighty name of Jesus.
So the Bible says that a man who has labored to make wealth should find time to enjoy it, you will see that in Ecclesiastes 2: 22 – 24, enjoy the fruit of your labor while you are still alive, it says for what hath man of all his labor, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath labored under the sun? 23For all his days are sorrows, and his travailed grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night (he’s thinking of how to make money), this is also vanity. 24There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labor. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God. If you make your wealth and you are able to enjoy it, that is the will of God for you, that is not to say you should not leave for the children, when you have eaten and you are full, the remainder goes to children; don’t struggle to accumulate wealth that the children will come and eat it, eat, drink, be full, when you are full and there’s a remainder, the children will take, I’m not the one saying so, that is what the Bible says and it says it is the will of God.
So gentlemen and ladies, let us think carefully how we manage our wealth; the story was told of a woman who had money and was not enjoying it, she was keeping the money then she died, and when the children got there, what they found in her account they couldn’t believe it, and they say eh, so mommy had this type of money and they began to enjoy the money, may that not be your portion in the mighty name of Jesus.
Let me also draw your attention to Ecclesiastes 6: 1 – 2, it says there is another serious tragedy I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily on humanity. 2God gives some people great wealth and honor and everything they could ever want, but then he doesn’t give them the chance to enjoy these things. They die, and someone else, even a stranger, ends up enjoying their wealth! This is meaningless – a sickening tragedy, may that not be your portion, may that not be my portion in the mighty name of Jesus; we will labor and enjoy the fruits of our labor; you will labor and by the grace of God you will enjoy the fruits of your labor, the remainder will go to children.
Now let’s look at reputational legacy, so we got to compare reputational legacy with material legacy, what do we mean by reputational legacy? We mean positive impact that a person makes on other people which lasts far beyond their lifetime, that’s reputational legacy as opposed to material things that you give to children, give to relatives and whatsoever.
Reputational legacy includes spiritual legacy, occupational legacy, professional legacy, how you impact people around you that had a lasting effect on their lives. Reputational legacy has to do with a person’s character, your actions, your contributions to society or your profession or your field of endeavor or your contribution to the kingdom of God which influences how that person is perceived, how you are perceived and remembered by others.
When you leave a legacy you’ll be remembered for it, mind you, for material legacy the children may not even remember you, that is true, the children may not remember you once the money is there, if they are fighting how can they remember you, if they quarrel over the money they won’t remember you, is who gets what, even when you leave a will in material legacy they still quarrel.
We had a case where a will was made and we thought it was the best of wills that they will not quarrel, yet the son that a special provision was made for was the one who went to court to challenge it; even when I called him and explained to him what is there in the will that he could enjoy, he still didn’t believe that it was sufficient for him, he still went to court, so reputational legacy has to do with how you impact the life of others.
Matthew 5:16 says let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven; that is, the works that you do that impact the life of people that they can remember you for when you are gone. Then look at Proverbs 20:7, it says the just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him; not the material wealth now but the work of your hand can bring blessing to your children, you can use your money to leave a reputational legacy because it’s not everything about me, my children.
Let’s take the case of Ford foundation, that’s reputational legacy that was created with money; beneficiaries of Ford Foundation today are across the world but the man has gone, he died several years ago but people still benefit from his legacy. I don’t think I need to be multi-millionaire before I can leave reputational legacy, do you realize that people have withdrawn from school because of #5,000? There are children that have dropped out of school just because of #5,000 and that was that was revealed when there was a foundation that was giving scholarships to children and they were asking them why you could not continue school, she said the mother and the father could not pay #5,000 and dropped out of school, so you don’t need to be Ford, you don’t need to be a billionaire to leave a reputational legacy, within your own limited resources you can make provision for others to benefit from what you have acquired, that is part of reputational legacy.
Now to build a strong reputational legacy, one has to be consistent when it comes to issues of integrity and diligence in what one does because you can acquire, you can leave a reputational legacy even by the work of your hand, not necessarily money. Ecclesiastes 9:10 says whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest; that is once a man drops dead there is no work again, it is when you are here that you can struggle and use everything that you have to do what you are assigned to do and you don’t have to be at national level or international level.
I’ll give some examples of little things that can make impact; there’s a place in Ile-Ife, akara osu, those who attended the University of Ife will know what akara osu is, this is ordinary akara that women in that town produce and it has passed through generation to generation; if you Google akara osu now is on the internet because they have sponsored children, they have sent their children abroad, they have built wealth out of akara. Even in this Lagos, there is a place in Mende, Mende Suya, the first time I bought suya in that place was 1984, sometime last year I went there I still found the suya spot, so I called the man and I told him the history that your father, I used to buy suya here in 1984, the man was so happy, he gave me free suya and said I should just wait; ehn, 1984, I said yes, since 1984, and that is the one I knew, I can’t say when they started it but when I was coming back from Ikeja high court I will stop by there, so I remember 1984 was when I first bought suya in Mende Suya, they are still there till today, a generation has taken over and they are still producing it – suya.
So you don’t have to be on the top side of any skill to leave an impact that people can benefit from what you are doing to make a reputational legacy. Even in this country, there was a man called Murtala Muhammad, he governed only for 6 months, I think he came July 1975, he was killed in February 1976, barely six months, today we still speak of Murtala Muhammad because of what he did when he was in office, he gave God everything he had acquired, he said he was going to serve Nigeria with all that he had.
In the kingdom there are pastors that we posted to a particular parish, when they have left several years thereafter, people still speak about the indelible mark that they made on their parish that people still benefit from what they did.
Key aspects of a reputational legacy, we’ve said that reputational legacy has to do with reputation and when you talk of reputation we mean the opinions, the beliefs of others about you; you can’t have a reputation about yourself, reputation is about what others perceive about you, what they believe about you, that’s reputation. You cannot even go to court to say that this is what I believe and the man said something wrong about me, if you sue for libel for example, that is damage to reputation, you must call another person to come and give evidence of what he thought about you and how the complaint, the publication has damaged your reputation, so reputation is about opinion and belief of other people about you, that means that to have a reputational legacy you must impact other people, it cannot be what you did for yourself, it is what you did for others, that is when you can leave a reputational legacy.
So a person must be intentional to leave a reputational legacy; a person must be intentional in his actions, in his values, in his contributions to society or the community in order to leave a reputational legacy. Reputational legacy involves deliberately engaging in actions that influence others and shape the future.
When we talk of spiritual legacy, the founder of this mission was not educated and the General Overseer always tells the story of how when he was a senior lecturer in the university was a disciple of an uneducated man, so you don’t have to be a PhD holder to leave a reputational legacy and the mission is the one that is striving till today because of the work that he did in the foundation, so every one of us has got something in him from which he can leave a reputational legacy.
So what must I do to leave a reputational legacy? I said that one must consciously live a life of honesty, integrity, diligence, fairness in dealing with others, selflessness and trust in such a way that you make impact on others, any of those things can leave a reputational legacy.
There are people that are known for their honesty and because of that their children will benefit; when you see the man, ah that man, his father was a honest man, treat him well, not because of what the child has done but because of the honesty of the father. It could be selflessness, there are people that are created to serve, anywhere you find them they will always want to serve. Proverbs 11: 6 (the New Living Translation version), it says the godliness of good people rescues them; the ambition of treacherous people traps them. The godliness of good people rescues them, not only they, but even people that succeed them, if you have done good, it transcends to your successors.
Psalm 41:12 says and as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face forever. That is, even our integrity, we can leave a reputational legacy by our integrity and it is better to leave a reputational legacy based on integrity and honesty than to leave a material legacy based on crooked dealings. Proverbs 28:6 says better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness, than he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich; integrity is better than wealth acquired through crookedness.
Now there are different levels of reputational legacy, as we’ve said, so you don’t have to wait until you get to a national or international level before you say that I can leave a reputational legacy, we can make impact in little things that directly impact on people that are connected to us or within your immediate community or your geographical location – your village, your town or even within your local church, you can make an impact that people will remember you for even in your local church.
Luke 16:10 – 11 says he that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. 11If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? If a man cannot be trusted with little things, nobody will entrust him with big things, so even in our little ways we can make our impact that people will remember us for, that ‘oh if only he was here now, if only he was around, this is what would have happened’.
Maybe we should ask ourselves what good thing can people remember us for; you can ask your neighbor, the person next to you what good thing do you think people will remember you for? To prick our own conscience, is there anything that we have done or we are doing that we believe people can remember us for? If there is none, the day has come, the time is now to begin to do such things consciously that at least you’ll be remembered for.
So why should we leave a legacy? Proverbs 13:22 says a good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children; and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just. But this is a scripture that has been misunderstood over the years, it is misconstrued to mean that you must struggle to build wealth for your children’s children, no, the inheritance there is the good works of your hand that your children and children’s children can benefit from, though you can use money as we have shown to leave a reputational legacy, but it’s not urging us to be struggling to build wealth for our children’s children, it’s asking us to do good works that our children can inherit, so it’s a misunderstanding to think that it is asking us to lay wealth, to struggle. There is nothing wrong in making wealth, that’s not what I’m saying, but the scripture is not telling us to be struggling to make wealth for our children’s children, it is the good works, that’s the inheritance that our children can benefit from.
Talking about this, I have a very short story to tell you; some years ago I had a parcel of land somewhere in Lekki here and a lady came and lay claim to it, she said the land belongs to her, I went and charted the land, her land was on the left side, my land was on the right side, she went to court and I knew there’s no law you can cite that will transfer land on right side to the left side, so I kept my peace, her case was thrown out of court but she went to a young man to come and meet me and beg me to leave the land for her; I said it’s my land, why should I leave it for you, but the man that he sent to me was the son of a man that had helped me when I started practice as a lawyer, the computer I started with, it was the man that bought it; so when the young man came to me, I said if the lady had said she was related to your father the first day, I would have left the land for her, the land was then worth about 50 million, tell her to take it because of your father not because of her, but she was the niece of your father according to what you have said, and what your dad had done for me, anyone that comes from your father I must help him or her, tell her to take the land.
When you make impact in life, the time to benefit others will come, your children will reap the good works of your hand because somebody somewhere will remember that you did that good. I just told her take the land, as a matter of fact if you had mentioned your father from the day one, there would have been no problem, but I didn’t know she was connected to your father, take.
We have some good examples we can quickly look at in the Bible, those who left different legacies: the first will be our Lord Jesus, legacy of love, and you see that in John 15: 13, it says greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends; that is the greatest of love.
Abraham, legacy of faith, you see that in Hebrews 11:8-9, it is by faith that we remember Abraham – move from your area, he did; take your child, sacrifice, he did.
Then David, legacy of praise, if you take the Psalms, if you talk of David today it is because of the way he praised God that he’s still remembered for, you can see that in Psalm 145: 1 – 2.
Deborah was a woman but legacy of courage, when there was war in Israel and she sent the war commander, the man said I will not go if you don’t follow me, and as a woman she said I will follow you, so encouragement, courage, you find in Deborah who was a woman, you can see that in Judges 4 & 5.
Then Ruth, legacy of loyalty, if you remember the ‘your God will be my God, your people will be my people’ mantra, a woman who had lost her husband didn’t abandon the relations of the husband, so when you talk of loyalty today you talk of Ruth as part of the legacy that she left behind.
In conclusion, while it is good to leave wealth for children and children’s children if you have it, a believer should be more concerned with living for a reputational legacy that can transcend generation that people can remember you for, that when you are gone the works of your hand will still remain and people will still remember and your children will benefit from them, may that be your portion in the mighty name of Jesus Reputational legacy, material legacy, but God will endow you with things that you have that you can use to impact on the lives of others.
Perhaps there are people here today who want to leave reputational legacy but you are yet to surrender your life to Christ, because everything we have said is covered by grace and grace comes from our Lord Jesus, so if you are here and you have not surrendered your life to Christ and you want to do so…
[Altar call]
Can we rise to pray, the rest of us will pray for grace to leave a legacy that we can be remembered for; you know the area that you think you want to develop that people will remember you for, so let us pray for grace to leave a legacy a reputational legacy that we can be remembered for, that our children’s children will benefit from, let’s pray.
Let’s say Father, please give me the grace to leave a legacy that I can be remembered for, that my children, my children’s children will benefit from, in Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
Secondly, let us say Father, let me be a blessing to many people that come my way, let me be a source of blessing, let me be able to make impact on the life of others in my own way, give me the grace oh Lord to be a blessing onto others; people that come my way, let me be a blessing unto them, in Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
And lastly, let’s say Father, please do not let the fruits of my labor be taken away by strangers, in Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
Father we thank You for Your word, we bless Your name and appreciate You Lord; we ask Father for grace to be a blessing unto others, the grace to leave a legacy that will impact on the lives of others and please Father do not let strangers take away the fruits of our labor, in Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
