Your Life's Gonna Leave a Mark

You are going to make a difference in this world, whether you like it or not. The only question is what kind of difference will you make. You can leave behind a broken marriage, children who don’t respect you, and friends who have a low opinion of you. Or you can leave behind people who love and respect you and who have learned great things from you.

My extended family has some alcohol, drug addiction, and suicide running through it. These things tend to get passed down from generation to generation. The Bible says,

The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation. (Numbers 14:18)

This passage doesn’t even sound fair. Why should children be punished for the sins of their fathers? I believe it does show that junk tends to get passed down from a father to his children. An alcoholic is more likely than another man to have an alcoholic son. If your parents were angry and hateful, you are more likely to be that way too. If you are dishonest, your children will learn dishonesty from you.

There are alcoholics in my family, but when my father was a young man, he gave his heart to the Lord. His kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids have all been blessed with stable, loving, Christian homes. My father passed away a few years ago, but he left behind a positive legacy.

My uncle tells a story about a man who was a friend of my grandfather. He says the man was considered a "vile" man and an alcoholic until a tent meeting came to town and he gave his heart to Jesus. The man is now dead and gone, but the four generations of descendants that followed him are committed Christians. If you met his great-grandchildren, you would think of them as great people that come from a long line of Christians. But that line all began with one alcoholic who decided to give his heart to the Lord.

If, as you read this, you feel that your own children are hopelessly lost, I do not want you to be discouraged. If you are breathing, you still have the opportunity to leave behind a positive legacy.

My next door neighbor when I was a kid was an alcoholic. He gave his heart to the Lord shortly before he died. His son, who is my age, says, "The Lord swept through my family." Most of them became committed Christians.