And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.
2 Peter 1:15 NIV
What impact does your life have on other people? Especially as a believer? How will you be remembered when you are gone? What legacy will you leave behind?
Peter was concerned with his legacy. He did not care so much about what people thought of him. But he was concerned that people remembered what he had taught them. And so he reminded them of the truths they had previously learned. And not just once. But over and over. He made it his goal to be sure that the truth we have was planted deeply into their hearts and minds (2 Pet. 1:12-13). So that, after he was gone, they would remember and not forget.
The legacy Peter wanted to leave behind was not that he was a mighty apostle, a part of Jesus’ inner circle. It was not a list of accomplishments performed in the service of the Lord. Nor was it in the way that he suffered and died as a martyr for Christ. Instead, the legacy he wanted to leave behind was the people who had been changed by his life and were faithful to the teachings he had faithfully passed on to them.
What better legacy could we leave behind than the lives of people drawn closer to our Lord because of what we said and did? Like Peter, make it your goal to live a life that will continue to positively influence people after you are gone.
