Date: 9/16/2020
Song: Legacy by Jay-Z
Time: 9:35 am
When I wake up, I have my usual morning routine that involves reading my daily devotional on the Bible app, before getting out of bed, thanking God for another day, and saying my first-morning prayer of the day.
Then, I work out, shower, and get ready for work.
While I work out, I start off listening to some Christian music, whether it's the Kirk Franklin Pandora Station or the Contemporary Gospel Pandora Station. I like to give God some praise. Then, I go on to switch to my hip hop and r&b stations and finish my workout.
While getting ready for work, I usually listen to some Christian motivational videos on YouTube; or even sometimes, I listen to different sermons on YouTube to get my mind prepared to face the day.
While driving to work, I usually listen to at least one chapter of the Bible before going on to listen to some music, which mostly consists of Gospel, Hip Hop, and R&B.
Well, this particular morning, I was listening to Genesis 47. And this part of the scripture talked about Joseph and how he brought his father, brothers, and their families to Egypt and gave them land and property in the best part of this land (Genesis 47:11-12).
Hearing this and how Joseph gave his family land and property in Egypt made me think of legacy.
The song, Legacy, by Jay Z, just popped into my head. "Legacy, Legacy, Legacy," I murmured to myself as I continued to listen and drive. It played so much in my mind that I had to put the song on before I went into work.
In this song, Jay Z speaks of spreading money across families. He speaks of giving money to his sisters, his cousins, his nephews, and his wife. At the beginning of the song, his daughter even asks him, Daddy, what's a will?
He goes on to speak about the importance of generational wealth.
Legacy is important to God, and it should be important to us. The Bible even speaks about it in Proverbs 13:22, which says, "A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children." That's powerful!
My father always tells my brother and me that each family generation should build on to the next. And each generation should go farther and higher than the generation before them. And I agree with him and his wise words, especially now that I am getting older and looking to get married and have my own children one day.
As human beings, I think that we all want to build something or create something on this earth that will last even when we are gone, and that can only be done through God and legacy.
With that being said, we should all strive to build a legacy for ourselves and our families. Or maybe we can be a mentor to someone and help them in their life's journey.
There are different types of legacies to pass down to others.
It could be a Spiritual legacy, where you teach others about the importance of God and what He's done in your life (Psalm 78:4, Genesis 17:7, Deuteronomy 6:5-7).
It could be a Financial legacy, where you teach those coming behind you about building wealth, getting out of debt, staying out of debt, and living in financial freedom (Psalm 112:1-3).
It could be a Healthy Legacy, where you teach others about eating the right foods and exercising (Daniel 1:8-14). You can teach them the right tools to help them live a long life (Genesis 50: 23).
It could be a Mental Health legacy where we give others the tools to take care of their mental health and seek out professional help if they need it.
We all know something that can help someone else. And it's good for us to share it with them.
Furthermore, Family is important to God. And because of that, Family should be important to us also. Having a family and community of people who support us and love us even when we are tripping or in a bad mood is a blessing.
Sometimes in our society, we focus on ourselves and can develop a selfish mentality of thinking it's all about me or making it independently. But why not use the support system if you have one?
Family, generational wealth, and legacy is not something that can be done alone. It takes God, unity, and Family, all working together.
We want to pass on our faith in God, knowledge, wisdom, skills, talent, money, morals, and values to enhance the generations behind us and give them an even better starting point in life than we had.
Until Next Time…
May God Richly Bless You,
Dr. Rich