Keep your legacy

“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:”

2 Timothy 4:7 [KJV]

Sunrise at Wellington

I’ve recently been listening to the books of Kings and Chronicles on audio Bible. Each time a new king ascended to the throne of Israel or Judah, I would tense, waiting for the author’s one line assessment of the king. Either Scripture would say the king “did that which was right in the sight of the LORD” and I would sigh with relief. Or it would say, “he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord”, and my heart would ache for the Israelites.

Whether the king had reigned forty years or four, their legacy was captured in that one statement. What mattered was the Lord’s assessment of them, and whether they had walked in God’s ways – not just at the start of their reign, but all their lives. Sadly, some kings started well, then failed. One such king was Uzziah. Second Chronicles 26 records that he “was marvellously helped [by God], till he was strong. But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God” (15b-16a). Uzziah was an inspirational man of faith, but he grew proud and rebelled against God, destroying what would otherwise have been a godly legacy.

And yet this pattern is repeated heartbreakingly often in ministry. Someone seems on fire for God—a passionate defender of the inerrant truth of Scripture and an inspiration to a generation of Christians. But then, either gradually, or with heart-shattering abruptness, that person is exposed as a hypocrite or they depart from the faith once delivered unto the saints (Jude 1:3). Whether they were a global name, a pastor, a friend or a peer, we feel betrayed and discouraged. Perhaps we’re tempted to quit ourselves, doubt God’s goodness or question scriptural truth because of the filth of the human vessel who once preached that truth.

And a little voice whispers, “If someone so seemingly spiritual could fall so badly, what’s to stop that happening to you?” Is it possible for anyone these days to reach the end of their earthly life and honestly declare, like Apostle Paul, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7)?

How do we guard our legacy so we don’t shame the name of Christ, and cause others to stumble? All of us influence others around us. But I feel this responsibility particularly when I help in children’s ministry. The hurt and betrayal a child feels over hypocrisy has a deep ongoing impact, and Jesus strongly condemns those who offend little ones (Matthew 18:6, Luke 17:1-2). In twenty or thirty years’ time, will those children find me still faithfully serving and holding to the doctrines I declared to them in Sunday School? How do we serve the Lord today, and taking heed, lest we fall (1 Corinthians 10:12)?

The secret to a lifetime of faithful service is sanctification. The word “sanctify” means “to make holy, to purify or consecrate”. It vividly pictures the sanctification of the tabernacle priests, referring to both the once-off aspect of salvation and the ongoing, daily surrender that Jesus spoke of in Luke 9:23, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me”. A life of holiness doesn’t just happen. We live in a world that is not holy. We live in earthly bodies still inclined to please ourselves. Titus 2:12 says that God’s grace is “Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world”.

Sanctification is broader than just moral purity. We should be careful to be pure from sexual sin physically and mentally, and we need to confess and forsake the impure thinking that God says is just as sinful as acts of immorality (Matthew 5:28). But we could be morally clean and yet not sanctified, because the word sanctification means being ‘set apart for service to God’. So many of us women are not focused on service to God because we have instead prioritised earthly things, such making money, comfort, social media and career progression. We’re more interested in how what we’re doing compares to our peers rather than doing what pleases God. And so, we have man’s effort rather than God’s service and barrenness instead of fruit.

A life of sanctification is only possible through the divine enabling that comes from full surrender to the Lord, and a passion for applying God’s Word in our lives. In John 17:17 the Lord Jesus prayed to His Father “Sanctify [my disciples] through thy truth: thy word is truth.” Similarly, as the Apostle Paul reflects on his life in 2 Timothy, his testimony comes after first declaring Scripture is necessary to keep one holy, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works” (3:16-17).

The Bible points us to God, specifically referring to each member of the trinity as ‘Truth’ (Isaiah 65:16, John 14:6, John 16:13). The Word exposes sin (Romans 3:20) and Satan’s deeds (1 Peter 5:8). It enables us to live holy, victorious lives (1 John 1:9; 1 Corinthians 10:13)—provided we obey it (James 1:22,25). As the Psalmist says, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word” (119:9).

In every story of someone who has failed to guard their legacy, at some point they turned away from the Word of God. They preferred human reasoning over the plain teaching of Scripture, decided some instruction didn’t apply to them, or questioned the Almighty God’s ability to preserve His Word. As Paul says, “they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

Don’t be like those people. Love the Word of God. Cling to it because your spiritual welfare depends on it. Take every opportunity to feed on it. “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2). Read it (1 Timothy 4:13). Meditate on it (Psalm 1:2). Memorise it (Psalm 119:11). Listen to it preached. Don’t just rely on someone else’s interpretation of a passage, or an AI summary, study the Bible yourself like the Bereans who “received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11b). Let it dwell in you richly and sing it (Colossians 3:16). And love it: “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day” (Psalm 119:97).

Only a lifetime of filling our lives and minds with God’s truth will keep us sanctified from error and dependent on the Lord. And only then will we be able to testify like Paul as we reach the end of our time on earth, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.”