Good people leave an inheritance to their grandchildren, but the wrongdoer’s wealth passes to the virtuous.
Proverbs 13:22
Notes for Contemplation as You Use this Devotional:
- This passage, from the chapter sometimes called “A Parent’s Discipline,” distinguishes between a gracious nature and a greedy one. It offers the hope of justice and wellbeing, an assurance that wrongdoing can never outlive generosity and lovingkindness.
- The Book of Proverbs is treasured because it teaches you how to develop a spiritually mature, healthy character. Consider it an ancient “Do-This-Not-That” compendium of wisdom still applicable to your 21st-century life.
- Inheritance includes money, but it means so much more. It’s often a desire to be known and remembered for successes and triumphs, rather than mistakes and shortcomings. For some people, that may be healing generational cycles of abuse and neglect, so future generations live healthy, whole lives. For others it mean transforming a business with current technology; bequeathing an art collection to a museum; or funding a scholarship, for example.
- The proverb’s wisdom invites you to discern what you want to remain after you die and move into your next experience of everlasting life. Olivia Bailey, a 16-year-old writer for KidSpirit, a spiritual magazine by and for global youth, encourages you to avoid worries about an afterlife (such as whether you’re going to heaven) or what death might bring. Instead, she recommends living in the world so you “create something that will outlast you.”
- Demonstration is your evidence of how well your life works. When you discern how you want to be remembered and for which sacred qualities, you can live with greater purpose. You can devote your energy to contributing your unique gifts to your loved ones, community, and the world, here and now. So, as you live in the present, you are designing a legacy for others’ future good.
Contemplation Questions:
Ask yourself:
- When I reflect on my ancestry and those I admire who are deceased, which of their qualities and accomplishments have lasted?
- List, word map, or illustrate who the people are.
- Then, specify each one’s lasting qualities and accomplishments.
- When I reflect on my own life, what inheritance would I love to leave?
- List, word map, or illustrate as much as you imagine.
- What are at least three (3) ways I can create an inheritance that lasts for generations to come?
- List, word map, or illustrate as much as you imagine.
As you use this devotional, have faith in yourself and your discernment, now and in the future. Contemplate the quality of what will last, not how great or small the quantity. With your intuition as your guide, consider such things as gardens to grow, wisdom to share, skills to teach, investments to make, stories to tell, and rich cultural traditions that already have endured for centuries. Honor the truth of who you are, so the inheritance you leave is a gift of enduring love.
© 2024 – Rev. Jennifer L. Sacks – All rights reserved.
Photo from Shutterstock by Ryan DeBerardinis.
