How Moms Can Leave a Lasting Legacy

Written by Sara Horn

What makes a legacy? Is it the inheritance you leave your family after you’re gone? Is it the good thoughts and memories you leave behind? Or is it what you’re doing right now that will make the most impact? What kind of legacy do you want to leave?

As mothers, we want nothing less than to give the very best to our children. We do everything we can to prepare them for a great future—we run them to soccer practice, take them to piano lessons, and save a little every month for their college years. But legacy isn’t just for later; whether we think about it or not, what we do or don’t do, say or don’t say—today—makes an impact on our children for tomorrow.

Our children are precious vessels still being formed. In fact, the psalmist calls children “God’s best gift” and “the fruit of the womb his generous legacy” (Psalm 127:3, MSG). He calls those who have children “blessed.” Our children will learn what we are willing to teach them, and one of the greatest lessons or legacies we can ever pass on to them is a legacy of faith. And yet, we can’t just hope they will pick up on faith as they go along. We must be intentional and make an effort to pass on a legacy of faith to our children daily. Here are a few ways you can do just that, starting today.

An Attitude of Gratitude
God loves a thankful heart. So do other people! It can be very easy to pass on this trait to your children. Take turns as a family to pray and thank God at mealtime. Make it a point to look for simple things to be grateful for and voice those to your children during regular conversation. “I am so thankful that we found that parking space! God was looking out for us!”

Don’t just be thankful during sunny days or good times. Teach your child how to be thankful during the not-so-great times, too. Wait for a time when it rains to tell your child how thankful you are that God sends the rain because it helps water the grass outside.

Play the Grateful Game. Whenever my little boy gets grumpy about something—maybe there’s a toy he wants that I’ve told him he can’t have—I start the Grateful Game. Each of us takes turns naming three different things we’re thankful for. It’s a great way to help your child take his mind off what he wants, and focus instead on what he has and what God has already given him.

A Love for the Bible
Don’t leave Bible reading only to your children’s Sunday school teachers. A great time for your child to get into a habit of reading the Bible is when they’re first starting to read. Be intentional about reading a verse or two from the Bible every night, or find a favorite Bible story and help read it with your child. Get a children’s Bible like the Holman CSB® Read to Me Bible for Kids that has great pictures of familiar Bible stories as well as an easy index of Bible verses and stories to turn to.

Make a game of learning the books of the Bible in the car on the way to school, or put a Bible verse to song and sing it at bedtime. When your children have questions about God, use your Bible as the resource to answer their questions. This will instill in your child early on where he can turn to for answers, something he will hopefully do his whole life.

Praying to God
Encourage your children early on to go to God in prayer, and let them know that it can be for anything. Pray with your child, but also give him the chance to pray and learn how to have conversations with God.

When my son was younger, maybe 3 or 4, he would get shy and not want to pray, despite how much I explained that Jesus loves hearing us pray. So I remained patient and would ask him to repeat what I prayed, which he was willing to do. Gradually, he learned to pray on his own, and now as a first-grader, we take turns going first when we pray together each night.

Always emphasize the point that God listens to our prayers, and point out to your child when someone you’ve prayed for is feeling better or something else happens and a prayer is answered. By making prayer an intentional part of your daily discussion, you’re setting the example to your child of what a living, breathing relationship with God really looks like.

Sara Horn is the national director for Wives of Faith (www.wivesoffaith.com), a faith-based military wives support group. She and her husband have one son who is in first grade.

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