Live a life that transforms
By Mark Dehority
In 2016, at our local Iron Sharpens Iron Conference, I met Dr. Dan Erikson. I enjoyed his presentation about grandfathering and his book Grand Fathering -Live to Leave a Legacy. Dan passed away earlier this year. His message is grounded in Scripture and relevant to all men, especially grandfathers. My plan is not to do a book report, but most of this comes from Dr. Dan.
Chapter one of Dan's book is about a life that transforms. He stated, “The ultimate goal for us as grandfathers is to live a life that serves to transform our descendants into the men and women God wants them to become.”
When I look at this goal, I immediately think that we could change the word transform to disciple. It could read, “Live a life that serves to disciple our descendants.” This is the mission of our church “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”
This certainly includes our family and who better to disciple than the people we identify as grandchildren.
Dr. Dan stated, “The ultimate question for us is, am I part of the transformational solution or part of the problem?”
We are leaving a legacy
Our role in this is our legacy. We are leaving a legacy.
Is it the legacy we want to leave?
Think about the legacy left by your grandparents, especially your grandfathers. Even if you never knew them, you probably heard about them. If they were a total mystery, that is their legacy. For most of us, there is a legacy, good, bad or indifferent there is a legacy.
We have an opportunity to control the legacy we want to leave our grandchildren.
Meet them in heaven
We have an opportunity to impact their lives with Christ. We have an opportunity to meet them in heaven.
Impact comes from relationship. Discipleship comes from relationship. There is no substitute for a strong Christ-centered relationship with the people we identify as grandchildren.
Again, 1) you are leaving a legacy; 2) you control that legacy; 3) you can change that legacy; and 4) God has a plan for your legacy.
Just a note, grandchildren may or may not be biological. We may not be physically or geographically connected with grandchildren. We can always make an impact and we can always find young people that desperately need grandfathers.
Get right with God
First, get right with God. You must develop your relationship with the Lord. He wants to share His plan for you and your family. It is His plan and you don’t have to invent it, but you do need to understand it. Engaging in prayer, studying the Scriptures, and participating in other spiritual disciplines are the keys to communicate with God.
Get right with your grandchildren
Second, get right with your grandchildren. You must engage your grandchildren in a personal relationship. This requires active love and time. Time is the commodity we have the least of and nothing replaces it in building relationships.
Get your grandchildren right with God
Third, help get your grandchildren get right with God. This is making disciples. This is the ultimate goal. As Dan said, “The ultimate goal for us as grandfathers is to live a life that serves to transform our descendants into the men and women God wants them to become.”
For information, contact: derickson@peoplematterministries.com
Mark Dehority, deployed staff member
GCUMM