I have attended a lot of funerals over the years.  The one common denominator is in every service someone is trying to communicate the legacy of the person who has died.  There are some patterns I have noticed when people have lived their lives in such a way that truly leaves a mark on the world.

Begin With End In Mind-All of the people that really made a difference took the long look about life and determined what they wanted the top accomplishments to be in when it was over.  When a person values relationships as a top priority, then you can see a pattern throughout their lives where other people came first.  If you want to be known for something later, then you need to start investing in other people now.  The most important people are the ones at home.

Leave Everything Better Than Found It- This is the type of person that is always trying to help others be successful and is not consumed about themselves.  If they are a leader in the corporate world they are not looking out for number one, they want their teams or their companies to be better when they leave than when they came.  The true test of someone’s leadership is not when he or she is there but what happens when they are gone.

Gave Away More Than They Took–  In the end people are either more consumers or contributors.  The consumers see other people as a means to their end while the contributors see other people as the end.  These are the people that are always adding value to whatever they do from community involvement, personal relationships, work contributions and helping in their neighborhoods .  They simply love to give more than they take and people are moved by their humility and servant spirit.

It is never to late to work on your legacy.  The really important thing is taking the time to decide what you want it to be and then when the time comes other people will gladly step up and write your eulogy for you.

We have all been certain given gifts and talents.  We should use them with passion and excellence to the best of our ability to impact the world for good.  The point is that regardless of wealth or poverty, we should learn to lead a life that is not driven by things that don’t really matter.

In Richard Swenson great book on Margin he list several characteristics of simple living that are helpful:

1.Voluntary—If the simple life is forced, it ceases to be simple.This is a choice based on core values not something that is demanded.

2.Free—One of the key features of simplicity and at the same time, one of its principal advantages is that it is a life of freedom.It is being controlled by that which is life-giving and refusing to be controlled by that which is destructive.

3.Uncluttered—Emotionally we release our worries, we reconcile our relationships, we forgive our enemies and we begin anew each day.

4.Creative—Life is not boring just because it is simple.Simplicity sets the imagination free to work and to enjoy.

5.Authentic—A simple lifestyle must distinguish between the spiritually authentic and spiritually inauthentic.Biblical authenticity includes those things God has told us to focus on, those things that have eternal, God-assigned value: people, love, service, worship, prayer, self-denial, relationships, contentment, freedom, and rest.

6.Disciplined—Restraint is necessary for successful living, and all the more for simple living.Comfort is not a legitimate primary goal—authenticity is.

Anytime your security and significance is based on something or someone that can be lost, you will never find true contentment in this life or the life to come.

The public spectacle that played out in the news concerning Reverend Wright and Barack Obama was been painful to watch. In this tragedy you have two people who once genuinely cared for each other now forced to publicly attack the other person because of what has been said.

Pride also causes you to lose touch with the truth about yourself and what you really believe.  You literally become like the thing you hate but you cannot see it.

The great irony about some of the positions being advocated by the Reverend Wright on the extreme right of black liberation theology is they are really no different than those of other hate speech being advocated by the leaders of the extreme right of white liberation theology.

The only difference between the two groups is literally the color of their skin and if they heard that they would deny it to the death.  What should we all take away from this?

This is not a story just about politics.  It is about every relationship we have in our lives.

When you think the other person is always wrong and you are always right be careful.  The reason you may be able to see their faults is because you are looking at them through the mirror of your own life.

We as Christians are told to always clean up our own issues before we  even begin to criticize someone else.  God does resist the proud but he will give His grace to the humble.

I have learned the hard way over the years that the only way to work your way out of one of these black holes of the soul is to discipline yourself to live one day at a time.  When you do not know why things have happened and how it is all going to work out it comes down to what can I do right now.

The first practical step in this process is to experience forgiveness for the past.  We must first receive it for what we have done wrong and then give it to others who have hurt us and caused pain.  We should learn from the past but we cannot live in it.

The second step is to have faith for the future.  God is able and He is good so you can rest in the fact that He will meet our needs.  All worry and fear will do is to rob us of the spiritual energy we need to live today.

The last and probably most important truth is to embrace His promise of grace for today.   Every new day comes with the necessary spiritual power to deal with whatever happens within that twenty-four hour period of time.

If we do not waste that power on unforgiveness for the past or fear of the future then we will be able to live today with eternal perspective.   That perspective is that no matter what happens to me in this life that may hurt deeply at the time we win in the end.

The people you meet part of this development applies to all of life.  There is great wisdom in finding people who know more than you do about your area of expertise or interest and asking them for a meeting so that you can learn all that you can from someone who has already been where you want to go.  Every year you should have a list of at least ten new individuals that are successful and willing to invest in your life.

Please do not limit this to your professional life because you can find people everywhere who are great spouses or parents or involved in church and community work.  Some of the greatest connections I have ever made were in the normal flow of life because I was always looking for someone who could teach me something.

In the area of reading I have found that for every ten books that I read on a particular subject I will find at least one that will permanently change my life for good.  These become the books that you read at least once a year just to remind yourself of all the truths that you need to make sure you are applying in your life.

One of the disciplines I have developed over the years is that I will write the power statements or great quotes on the inside flyleaf of every good book so that I can always go back for a quick review.  If you will set a goal of at least one new book a month to start you will be amazed by how much your life will change because as you read your capacity to understand and develop new skills will be exponentially multiplied.

I am sure if this quote were made today it would include some reference to the incredible amount of information on the web.  Today you can read blogs and watch videos by some of the greatest communicators on life’s most challenging subjects whenever you want and usually without any cost but your time.

All learning that enhances personal development is an investment in your future that will give you an incredible return on your investment.

We must as leaders move the conversation from what we do on Sunday to what we do every day of our lives.  The Christian life is not just about coming to church but being the church everyday where we go to school, live in our neighborhoods and work in our careers.

I recently met with a very successful committed Christian who is a pediatrician who wanted to grow more spiritually and get more involved in ministry.  It was obvious to me from the very start of the conversation this meant to him taking on more responsibility at the church.

I began to share with him the vision that he could do more through his practice to reach young couples for Christ than we could ever do at the building.  They would not even come to the building to hear Billy Graham but they were several new couples sitting in his waiting room every week expecting their first child.

In this postmodern age, we must never minimize the importance of the church gathered for worship and ministry but we must prioritize the church scattered for evangelism and missions.  We must find new ways to take the gospel to where people live, work and play.

By the end of the conversation the light had come on for my friend because he no longer had a career but he now had a calling.  That’s what happens when you change the definition of success from increasing profits to impacting people.

The simplest way of stating this principle is that you will eventually reap what you sow .  If you consistently fill your mind with the truth then you should reap all of the benefits of many good decisions.

On the other hand, if you fill your mind with other things then the result will be believing the wrong thing.  Many times we act with even more passion when we believe a lie because the resulting behavior produces pain and rejection.  At this point we really do not want to admit we were wrong.

Another important part of this principle is that we will also reap to the degree we sow.  If we spend little time in God’s word then the result will be a double minded life that is constantly being tossed about with no clear direction.

The next major piece of this principle is that we have a responsibility for the maintenance of the soil where the seed will fall.  If our minds are cluttered with many other things then the truth cannot be heard because all the other noise will drown it out.

Finally, I must go back and deal with that very important word eventually.  Sometimes people are making bad decisions and yet see no immediate negative consequences.  In sharp contrast many people are doing the right thing and have not seen the benefits of walking by faith in the truth.

God in His perfect timing will bring in the harvest.  We all will reap what we have sown.  No suffering for the present time is joyful but it will yield the peaceful fruit of a surrendered life.

In Christian speak, a precept is black ink on white paper where someone quotes you chapter and verse with the understanding that there is one and only one meaning of this truth.  Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ period, end of conversation.

To be sure we as churches have beaten unbelievers over the head with our precepts to the point they are totally turned off to the gospel.  I am not talking about watering down the truth but when people do still walk into our buildings they just want to know is there any good news for my life today?

On the other side of this issue, many Christians can spiritually rationalize their behavior because they cannot find a clear precept that prohibits certain behavior on their part.  Obviously the New Testament was written in the first century so the writers did not cover the part about staying away from internet pornography.

Eating meat offered to idols was a big deal in the first century so the principle of deference was taught to make sure a Christian did not offend a weaker brother or an unbeliever with their behavior.  Today there are many contemporary issues that will never be addressed by precepts but the principles that are taught in scripture still apply.

If you have any doubts just use I Corinthians 10:31 as your guide, “therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”  Just always remember, everything that is for His glory is also for your good.

When leadership is approached from a Christian perspective a new model starts to develop where the leader becomes more of a shepherd to their people than a boss to their employees.  They do care about performance and productivity but they also feel responsible for developing alignment around core values and creating the right culture for work-life balance for their people.

They also see life beyond the immediate pressures of planning, project management, staffing, goal setting and execution.  The legacy they want to create for their life and organization includes eternal metrics that must be included when talking about the ultimate bottom line.

The clear plan for every Christian is to use your professional life as a platform for ministry because we are all in full time Christian service.  Our lives should no longer be seen as segmented into faith, family, friends, recreation and entertainment but become totally integrated into being one life on mission for God.  The various roles that we fulfill are no longer competing with each other but complimenting the calling God has for our lives.

In the end there is only one performance review that really matters.  The evaluation criteria is simple, How faithful were you with all that I entrusted to your care?  Thinking about that moment should overwhelm us with gratitude and give us a renewed sense of passion to hear well done my good and faithful servant.

Faith allows us to not only believe that God exists but that everything He has promised us in His word is true.  Beyond that the core issue is that God is able to do what He has said and there is nothing too hard for Him.

If faith answers the question Is God able then trust answers the question Is God good?  Trust goes beyond faith and believes that everything He has asked me to do is not only for His glory but also for my good.

When suffering comes faith will help you to believe that God is able to deliver you out of your trials but trust helps you to rest in the fact that if you are not delivered His grace will still be sufficient.

Most Christians are no longer afraid of what God is going to do to them because they have the complete assurance of their salvation.  However, the major problem is that we daily walk in the fear of  what God might do with us if we fully surrender our lives to Him.

There is no greater deception for the believer than to fear the One who loves you the most.  Yes God is able but far more than that He is also good.