Leaving A Legacy

… From everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear Him and His righteousness with their children’s children, with those who keep His covenant and remember to obey His precepts.       Psalm 103:17

Psalm 103 is one of my favorite Psalms. Reading it this morning reminded me of how much I want to leave a legacy of love to my children. That desire motivates me to regularly examine my life, what I am doing and how I am living. It causes me to consider my priorities and values and how I order my days. From this Psalm I am made aware of how much I need the Lord in order to truly love on a consistent basis, to love when I don’t feel loving and when others don’t feel lovable! 

According to Proverbs 9:10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” and Psalm 103:11 says “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him.” Fearing the Lord may not sound desirable and may even feel frightening in itself. But I think it is necessary in order for God to get our full attention. Otherwise we tend to go our own way, disregarding the invisible God who made us and how important He is to our very existence. It is humbling to think of the sin nature we struggle with and our very breath being dependent on Him. Understanding our own weakness and God’s awesome power hopefully brings us to our knees. It is there that we can experience God’s perfect love which casts out fear and fills us with the mercy and grace He has for us. Suddenly we see that God does not want to harm us but to heal and help us. Christ’s death and resurrection can now make sense as we turn to God in our limited humanity. When we sincerely turn to Him in humility, we find a loving Father who as David says, “has compassion on those who fear Him; for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust” and “from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear Him and His righteousness with their children’s children with those who keep His covenant and remember to obey His precepts. “

And what are His precepts (instructions)? I love the verse in Micah 6:8 which says, “…And what does the Lord require of you but to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Jesus stated it succinctly in Matt. 22:37, 39; “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind… and love your neighbor as yourself.” Two simple commands but they’re often very hard to carry out. The best way I have found to set my mind toward them is by spending time in that secret place with God, in His Word and in communion with Him. The term “secret place” is found in Psalm 91:1 of the New King James version where David says, “He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” Verse 2 states “I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust.” In that secret place with God, David realized God’s amazing power and love, his own weakness and God’s great compassion and love for him, a mere mortal with inconsistent motives and often little control over them. 

Praise is the natural and irresistible outcome of connection with the Lord. And it is after time alone with Him in His Word and prayer that Psalm 103:1 becomes the cry of our own hearts;

Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being praise His holy name. 

How, you may be asking, does this tie in with leaving a legacy of love? Well, as I leave that place of sheltered time with the Lord, I try to make it a priority to abide in Him as I go about my day.  Jesus told us in John 15:4 “Remain in Me and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me.” As I go about my day, I try to  maintain the awareness of God’s presence and His ever present help. When I feel uncertain or need to make a tough decision, or when my emotions start to get the best of me, I need to call on Him and ask for strength, patience and discernment so that my interactions with those I love can be in line with my love for them. When I feel my old sin nature creeping in (which believe me is more often than I like to admit), it’s time to check in with God our Father, because my abiding has slipped away into aligning with something contrary to His will.

Clearly I do not accomplish this 100% of the time. Sometimes I come to God in disappointment over my less than perfect approach or reactions. Thankfully our God “does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities” (Psalm 103:10). And God’s great compassion, forgiveness and mercy remind me of what Jesus has commanded us to do; “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36).

As I step away from here to practice these principles, I can rest in knowing that God is with me every step of the way and through Him and Him alone, I can leave a legacy of love to my children and my children’s children.

Francine Costanza, LCPC