Last month, Laura and I went to see the movie Creed. My favorite part in the movie was when Creed is preparing for his big fight. Up to this point, the entire movie is about him trying to get out of the shadow of his father’s legacy. Everybody’s compares him to his father. He feels so much pressure to live up to who his father was and what his father did.
As he is in the locker room preparing for the fight, Rocky gives him a card that is from his mom. He opened the letter and it simply said, “Make your own legacy. Love, Mom.” When I saw that, I started tearing up (I’m sensitive!). There is nothing like the advice of a mom!
I think we can all find ourselves where Creed found himself. We desperately want to leave our own legacy, but we constantly feel pressure from the world to live in everybody else’s shadow. We feel that we have to live up to the standards everybody has for us or that we at least the standards we think they have for us.
We live in a world where it is so easy to compare our story with everyone else’s. Today, I simply want to encourage you to make your own legacy.
A while back, God put a phrase on my heart for a friend. The phrase was, “Let God be as unique with your story as He is with everybody else’s.” While it encouraged my friend, it’s something that has stuck with me as well.
Rick Warren once said, “When you get to Heaven, God’s not going to ask you why you weren’t more like Billy Graham, John Maxwell, Andy Stanley, or ____ (name your hero). He’s going to ask you why you weren’t you. He doesn’t need another John Maxwell, He needs you.”
In a world where you may feel like others have control over your legacy, I encourage you to turn that over to God and make your own legacy.
Questions:
- Have you been living in the shadow of others expectations (real or perceived)?
- Have you been trapped and paralyzed by comparison?
- Can you trust God with your story and let Him be as unique with your story as He is everyone else’s?
- What’s holding you back from making your own legacy?
Challenge: Evaluate your life. Are you truly living the life you were created for? If not, what steps can you take to start making your own legacy? Figure them out and start taking them. Stop waiting for the permission of others to create your legacy.
Thoughts? Comment below!
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