How Can it Be Emphasized That a Person’s Legacy is Much More Than Money?

Q: I am preparing my will and I fear my children will not realize the impact of what I am leaving to them. How can it be emphasized that a person’s legacy is much more than money? — P.F.

A: When the multimillionaire J. P. Morgan died, his will consisted of about 10,000 words and 37 articles. In his life he had made many transactions. But one transaction was of supreme importance to him when he said: “I commit my soul into the hands of my Savior, in full confidence that, having redeemed and washed it in his most precious blood, he will present it faultless before my heavenly Father; and I entreat my children to maintain and defend, at all hazard and at any cost of personal sacrifice, the blessed doctrine of the complete atonement for sin through the blood of Jesus Christ, once offered, and through that alone.”

The statement written into his will left no doubt what Morgan considered to be the most important affair in his whole life — what he believed about God.

In the matter of his soul’s eternal blessing, Morgan’s vast wealth was powerless. He was as dependent upon mercy as was the dying thief at Calvary. He was dependent upon the mercy of God and the shed blood of Christ just as we all are dependent.

Take a lesson from this powerful legacy and instruct your children, whether still young or adults, that deciding what they believe about the Lord Jesus Christ is the most valuable decision they will make and the most costly, for without His salvation, souls are forever lost. Heed what the Bible says, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Mark 8:36).

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(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)

(c)2018 BILLY GRAHAM DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.