Bible College Sunday
The Greatest Legacy You Will Ever Leave
Every parent is leaving a legacy. The question is not whether you will leave one — it is what kind you will leave.
Consider two fathers who lived in the same era. One was a man named Jonathan Edwards, a preacher and theologian in the 1700s who poured himself into his children, teaching them to love God, to work hard, to pursue education, and to live with purpose. A study published 150 years after his death traced 1,400 of his descendants and found among them more than 100 lawyers, 30 judges, 13 college presidents, 100 clergymen and missionaries, and even a vice president of the United States. The branches of his family tree were heavy with fruit.
The other man, given the alias Max Jukes in the same study, lived at the same time. He was reportedly a likable fellow, but he was a hard drinker, a vulgar talker, and a man with no use for God, hard work, or education. His 1,200 traced descendants told a very different story — one marked by poverty, crime, addiction, and broken lives.
Same era. Two fathers. Two radically different legacies.
Your Influence Reaches Further Than You Think
Scripture makes clear that parental influence is not contained to a single generation. In Deuteronomy, God speaks of how the patterns of parents — for good or for ill — ripple outward through third and fourth generations, while his unfailing love flows to a thousand generations of those who love and obey him. This is not meant to paralyze us with fear. It is meant to awaken us to the profound weight and privilege of what we are doing every single day inside our homes.
The Bible itself traces this reality through the story of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob's sons — a multi-generational pattern of deception winding its way through a family tree, one generation handing off its failures to the next. A goat and a coat used to deceive in one generation became a goat and a coat used to deceive in the next. Legacy is powerful, and it does not always work in our favor without intentionality.
What Are We Actually Aiming For?
It is easy to say we want our children to be happy, successful, or good. These are not bad goals. But the Apostle Paul, writing in Ephesians 6:4, sets a higher standard. He instructs parents to bring their children up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Not just good kids. Godly kids. Children who know God, love God, and will serve him with their whole hearts for their whole lives.
That is the greatest legacy you can ever leave. And it will not happen by accident.
Three Things the Next Generation Needs
First, they need protection. Paul's instruction in Ephesians 6:4 begins with a caution not to provoke children to anger — not to come down hard on them, not to shame or humiliate or crush them with harshness. The word he uses for "bring them up" carries the image of a shepherd nurturing lambs. Isaiah 40:11 describes God himself as one who gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart. Your home should be the safest place your child knows. They should live with both feet planted firmly in the security of your love. When children feel genuinely safe and seen and cherished, they are far more open to everything else you have to give them.
Second, they need correction. Proverbs 13:24 is plain on this point — diligent discipline is an expression of love, not a contradiction of it. The Old Testament offers sobering examples of fathers like Eli and David who failed to correct their sons, and the consequences were devastating. Today we sometimes call overly protective parents "snowplow parents" — those who clear every obstacle from the road ahead of their child. But the goal of parenting is not to prepare the road for the child. It is to prepare the child for the road. Children who never face consequences, never experience failure, and never suffer the results of their own choices do not grow up. They may keep their childhood, but they lose their adulthood. Give your children boundaries. Hold them accountable. Let them make mistakes. Be there to guide them back. Do not abdicate your authority — your children need it, and deep down, they want it.
Third, they need direction. This is where intentionality becomes essential. Paul's instruction to bring children up in the "instruction of the Lord" implies a constant, proactive, ongoing process of teaching. You have roughly 6,570 days with your child under your roof. What are your goals for those days? What do you want your children to look like when they walk out the door at 18? What does godliness look like in practical, daily terms for your family?
If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.
Bring your children to church, yes — but do not stop there. Read God's Word with them at home. Teach them to pray. Help them memorize Scripture. Talk openly about what the Bible says about God, Jesus, salvation, money, anger, sex, worry, and mission. Get them involved in serving others. Tell them your own story of faith. Let them watch you lean on Christ in the hard moments.
A Legacy Built on Ordinary Faithfulness
The most powerful legacies are rarely built by famous people. They are built by ordinary men and women who simply decide, day after day, to point their children toward God. An Iowa farmer with an eighth-grade education who studied his Bible every night by his chair and prayed for each of his grandchildren by name every single day can set in motion a wave of faithfulness that touches hundreds of thousands of lives across generations.
None of us are perfect parents. Our shoes all have holes in them. But the call is not perfection — it is faithfulness. Lean on Christ. Abide in him. Seek him on your knees. He will supply the wisdom, the patience, the love, and the courage you need.
Your greatest legacy is a godly lineage. Start building it today.
Every parent is leaving a legacy. The question is not whether you will leave one — it is what kind you will leave.
Consider two fathers who lived in the same era. One was a man named Jonathan Edwards, a preacher and theologian in the 1700s who poured himself into his children, teaching them to love God, to work hard, to pursue education, and to live with purpose. A study published 150 years after his death traced 1,400 of his descendants and found among them more than 100 lawyers, 30 judges, 13 college presidents, 100 clergymen and missionaries, and even a vice president of the United States. The branches of his family tree were heavy with fruit.
The other man, given the alias Max Jukes in the same study, lived at the same time. He was reportedly a likable fellow, but he was a hard drinker, a vulgar talker, and a man with no use for God, hard work, or education. His 1,200 traced descendants told a very different story — one marked by poverty, crime, addiction, and broken lives.
Same era. Two fathers. Two radically different legacies.
Your Influence Reaches Further Than You Think
Scripture makes clear that parental influence is not contained to a single generation. In Deuteronomy, God speaks of how the patterns of parents — for good or for ill — ripple outward through third and fourth generations, while his unfailing love flows to a thousand generations of those who love and obey him. This is not meant to paralyze us with fear. It is meant to awaken us to the profound weight and privilege of what we are doing every single day inside our homes.
The Bible itself traces this reality through the story of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob's sons — a multi-generational pattern of deception winding its way through a family tree, one generation handing off its failures to the next. A goat and a coat used to deceive in one generation became a goat and a coat used to deceive in the next. Legacy is powerful, and it does not always work in our favor without intentionality.
What Are We Actually Aiming For?
It is easy to say we want our children to be happy, successful, or good. These are not bad goals. But the Apostle Paul, writing in Ephesians 6:4, sets a higher standard. He instructs parents to bring their children up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Not just good kids. Godly kids. Children who know God, love God, and will serve him with their whole hearts for their whole lives.
That is the greatest legacy you can ever leave. And it will not happen by accident.
Three Things the Next Generation Needs
First, they need protection. Paul's instruction in Ephesians 6:4 begins with a caution not to provoke children to anger — not to come down hard on them, not to shame or humiliate or crush them with harshness. The word he uses for "bring them up" carries the image of a shepherd nurturing lambs. Isaiah 40:11 describes God himself as one who gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart. Your home should be the safest place your child knows. They should live with both feet planted firmly in the security of your love. When children feel genuinely safe and seen and cherished, they are far more open to everything else you have to give them.
Second, they need correction. Proverbs 13:24 is plain on this point — diligent discipline is an expression of love, not a contradiction of it. The Old Testament offers sobering examples of fathers like Eli and David who failed to correct their sons, and the consequences were devastating. Today we sometimes call overly protective parents "snowplow parents" — those who clear every obstacle from the road ahead of their child. But the goal of parenting is not to prepare the road for the child. It is to prepare the child for the road. Children who never face consequences, never experience failure, and never suffer the results of their own choices do not grow up. They may keep their childhood, but they lose their adulthood. Give your children boundaries. Hold them accountable. Let them make mistakes. Be there to guide them back. Do not abdicate your authority — your children need it, and deep down, they want it.
Third, they need direction. This is where intentionality becomes essential. Paul's instruction to bring children up in the "instruction of the Lord" implies a constant, proactive, ongoing process of teaching. You have roughly 6,570 days with your child under your roof. What are your goals for those days? What do you want your children to look like when they walk out the door at 18? What does godliness look like in practical, daily terms for your family?
If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.
Bring your children to church, yes — but do not stop there. Read God's Word with them at home. Teach them to pray. Help them memorize Scripture. Talk openly about what the Bible says about God, Jesus, salvation, money, anger, sex, worry, and mission. Get them involved in serving others. Tell them your own story of faith. Let them watch you lean on Christ in the hard moments.
A Legacy Built on Ordinary Faithfulness
The most powerful legacies are rarely built by famous people. They are built by ordinary men and women who simply decide, day after day, to point their children toward God. An Iowa farmer with an eighth-grade education who studied his Bible every night by his chair and prayed for each of his grandchildren by name every single day can set in motion a wave of faithfulness that touches hundreds of thousands of lives across generations.
None of us are perfect parents. Our shoes all have holes in them. But the call is not perfection — it is faithfulness. Lean on Christ. Abide in him. Seek him on your knees. He will supply the wisdom, the patience, the love, and the courage you need.
Your greatest legacy is a godly lineage. Start building it today.
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