“God may forget but men wont” – Anonymous
Whether we are comfortable with it or not our actions before men go into a permanent record, a record that can be pulled out at any time to call our character, integrity and everything that we stand for to question. Yes, men most definitely do not forget and they don’t at all try to hide the fact that they remember, and the downside is they can choose to remember at the time when you least expect it; at the time it matters most and at the time it will have the greatest impact.
People love to tell other people’s stories, we can only hope that by the time they are telling ours it will be a “follow his example” and not a “learn from his mistake” type of story. Even in death, a man cannot escape the seeds he has spent his lifetime planting because when they start to sprout, they loom over his head and remain long past the time he crosses the great divide. Your posterity will immortalize you, but it is left to you whether you will never be forgotten for your good or forever be remembered for your bad.
The legacy you pass on to your posterity can be your life’s greatest defense or its worst accuser; it can be a blessed heritage for the future or a bitter curse that refuses to go away. Either way, it is left to each man to decide how his tale will be told and how his story will be spun from the lips of those he has left behind long after he goes to his grave. Posterity can make your life’s work and assignment credible and a blessing to generations to come or it can be a stern reminder to those yet coming that the road they are about to embark on is not for the careless pilgrim.
When people type your name on an online search engine, what will come out? A scandal here or a compromise there? Secret deeds that come to light that any man ought to bow his head in shame over? The aftermath of which his progeny will only seek to cover up or explain away. Or would it be that they found you to be, as Jesus described of John after his death, a burning and a shining light. Will your tale inspire those after you to believe that a man can end his journey standing on his two feet; that the grace of God is truly sufficient to keep one going amidst all that life has to throw at him, that there were men that the devil could not buy off no matter how enticing the offer.
God sees your heart but men will see your actions, intent and deeds are not the same and they don’t always justify each other. As much as is within your power and is allowable under the mighty hand of God’s grace, live a life beyond reproach and misinterpretation because at the end of the day when you claim yourself a Christian your reputation alone is not all that is hinging on your ability to prove your claims but the reputation of those who would be named after you, make sure you don’t let them down.
Think about your posterity!
“Mark the blameless man, and behold the upright. For the man of peace will have a posterity.” -Psalms 37:37 NASB
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