Leaving a Legacy

1 Chronicles 22:14-16 KJV
Now, behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the Lord an hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; and of brass and iron without weight; for it is in abundance: timber also and stone have I prepared; and thou mayest add thereto. [15] Moreover there are workmen with thee in abundance, hewers and workers of stone and timber, and all manner of cunning men for every manner of work. [16] Of the gold, the silver, and the brass, and the iron, there is no number. Arise therefore, and be doing, and the Lord be with thee.

From these verses, we learn David left Solomon most if not all of the supplies he needed to build the temple. Solomon’s earthly father made preparations so that he could fulfill the task God had for him. This bodes the question: are we doing that for our children?

Some of us know the call God has put on our children because they are adults and they’re working in their ministry, but what about those of us with small children? I have an idea of what each of my daughters may do for a ministry based on their gifting and talents, but I won’t know for sure for many years.

So how do we best prepare for our children’s ministry? How do we leave a legacy for them, so they can fulfill the spiritual task set before them by God?

1. Pray for them - it may seem silly, but I already pray for godly husbands for my girls. We can pray for their future ministries as well (or current if you have adult children).
2. Prepare their character - no matter what ministry your child is given by God, they need to have a Biblical character (2 Tim 1:5). That means we need to teach them to be honest and kind and to forgive others like Christ forgave us.
3. Prosper them - David knew it was going to take considerable financial obligations to build the Temple, so he began storing up supplies long before the Temple was to be built. David spent his time, energy, and financial resources setting his son’s ministry up for success. We can do the same for our children by building our retirement so we are not a burden to them in our old age, setting up savings accounts or college funds for them to use when they come of age (Prov. 13:22), and if it’s appropriate, giving directly to their ministry when the time comes.

Part of our ministry as parents is to leave a legacy for our kids and enable the success of their future or current ministry. Let us be dutiful to the task.