We all want validation. We all want to know we matter. We all want to know that what we do is important or at least makes a difference. We have no doubt some people make a difference. Consider history: electricity. The phone. The light bulb. The car. You name it. How shocked Henry Ford would be today to see cars in more colors that basic black. But his name goes down in history-not for his comment about the color of cars, but for his invention. The story is told of Alfred Nobel having a life “awakening.” A newspaper erroneously published that he had died (not his brother) and it applauded him for his invention of dynamite and other explosives. It shocked him so much he established the Nobel Peace Prize. He wanted to be known more for peace than blowing things up and taking lives.
Tragically, there are many who never consider their legacy. We are so hungry getting validation from the people around us that we stop getting it from God. We live for the pat on the back, the “atta boy,” that we find ourselves doing what is popular instead of what is right. We seek the here-and-now instead of the eternal. We settle for what feels good in the moment rather than what is going to matter in eternity.
Jesus said it this way: “A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. A tree is identified by its fruit…A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.” (Luke 6:43-44a, 45 NLT)
What we do flows out of what is in our heart. What will you be known for?
