honor and faith

Legacy.

That is a word I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. It’s been a little over a year since my grandfather passed away and I visited his grave very recently on a weekend in California with my extended family.

On his gravestone reads the text, “A Man of Honor and Faith.” Typically, you see these gravestones with “father” or “husband,” but no. For my grandfather, my family chose to remember him as “A Man of Honor and Faith.” That is the legacy he left behind to his children and their children.

I’ve been reflecting and dwelling a lot on what it means to be a man of God. A man that can be a light to Christ to those around me, but also a man who can lead His family in Christ. I’m more than blessed to say that my entire family pursues after the Lord, a blessing that I do not take for granted and a blessing I seldom hear. In the midst of that, when I looked upon my grandfather's grave, I couldn’t help but be brought to tears. I had nothing but gratitude to the Lord for using him to lead three generations of my family in Christ.

In my family, I’m the eldest son to carry the last name. I think it’s more of a korean culture thing and quite honestly, besides my grandparents, the rest of my family doesn’t think too much about it (I think?). For myself though, I can’t deny the label has shaped my thinking. In turn, being called the “eldest son” has added a certain weight and pressure that I am to be the next to “lead” my family. This status has never weighed extremely heavy necessarily, but it makes me consider that my family hopes me to be someone who can also lead as my grandfather did.

The idea of legacy and what you leave behind is an interesting concept. Riches, status, power, what do all those matter in the face of the Kingdom of Heaven? Nothing honestly. But just as 3 John 1:4 says, “I have no greater joy than to hear my children are walking in the truth.” How comforting and joyful is that? To know that that is the legacy you will leave behind as you know you approach the presence of the Lord. Besides the cross, what greater joy could there be in life? I’m sure that joy is exactly what my grandfather felt as he went to join the Father. What a peace I hope to experience as well.

So, as I pray, as I reflect, I ask myself. What kind of legacy do I want to leave behind? What words would I want my family to remember me by? I’m not sure what those exact words will be. More than anything, I pray that as my grandfather, the legacy I leave behind is a family of sons and daughters who faithfully pursue after Him and choose to run the good race. A humble sinner, that they too may see me as a man of honor and faith.