Reasoning. Why do we do what we do? What moves us to act in the ways that we act? What are you aiming for; what is your objective? I am now at a pivotal point in my path, where reflection has brought me into a spiritually sunken place. A place that forces me to question all things, specifically my role and reasons for actions. This self-reflection has been heartening, humbling, and truly difficult to confront. I ask: why am I broken; why am I weak; why can’t I break these mental and spiritual chains? I am plagued by the abundance of worthy, but yet, unanswered questions. Nevertheless, as with all challenges, I have two solutions: Move through it, or move around it. In this instance, I have chosen to immerse myself in a state of solitude to move through the challenge at hand. 

After wading through the abrupt tidal waves of thought that immediately consumed me, I found myself observing what seemed to be the coastline of my truth. I began to understand that all of the questions at hand, truly stem from one – Why? I have an answer to every question, but why is that the correct answer? For example, why am I pursuing this career? Why am I working so hard? How much is enough? No matter the answer, I have realized that our motive for that answer can be categorized as one of two things: Legacy or Judgment. Any objective you have can be placed under one of these categories. Whether it is writing a book; or obtaining a master’s degree; or leaving a trust fund behind; you are subconsciously attempting to influence your Legacy or your Judgement. As usual, we will address this topic from a Biblical perspective. Though we will use the Holy Bible as a primary reference, the conclusions drawn throughout this discussion will be based upon spiritual logic (logical conclusions incorporating spirituality). They may not apply to all scenarios, but they will definitely apply to any scenario encompassing Christendom. Let’s move forward by quickly defining the terms at hand.  

My summation of the term ‘legacy’ would be – who the world says I am. For ‘judgement’ – who God says I am. The actual definition of legacy is, a gift by will especially of money or other personal property.1 Judgement, the process of forming an opinion or evaluation by discerning and comparing.2 As a people, we pursue many things without knowing what they truly are. In a capitalistic society it is unsurprising that, the connotation that many people associate with legacy strictly deals with money, materials, or ownership. We equate value with economical demand; what is valuable to the economy is valuable to me. However, what we fail to realize is that pursuing legacy, means to pursue an almost infinite amounts of uncontrollable variables; those variables’ values are mistakenly determined by individual perspective. In regards to spiritual reality, our carnal perspectives are completely irrelevant. What you think, what other people think, does not matter to the spiritual reality at hand. But still we ask, what will people think? What will my family think? What will my descendants think?   

Legacy

On the other side of that last question is a harsh reality staring you right in the face. How often do you think of your grandparents? How often do you think about your great-grandparents? Be honest, how often do you think of your fifth great-grandfather who bought the hundred acres of land that allowed your family to prosper? Do you think of them often? Do you commemorate their legacies? Do you often take their lives into consideration when considering the generations to come? These are the individuals that paved our way through tremendous sacrifice and tenacity, yet we barely consider them.  

Throughout the Holy Bible, Jesus was asked to identify Himself on multiple occasions: 

“When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:13-16, KJV). 

“And straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate. And Pilate asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answering said unto them, Thou sayest it. And the chief priests accused him of many things: but he answered nothing. And Pilate asked him again, saying, Answerest thou nothing? behold how many things they witness against thee” (Mark 15:1-4). 

Each occasion, Jesus generally allowed His identity to be defined by someone else. No matter that individual’s determination, Jesus’ identity in the eyes of God remained the same (Mal. 3:16). In other words, the wavering opinions of man, do not influence the opinion of God. It would not be wise to rely on the judgement of men, your Legacy, but it would be wise to rely on the Judgment of God. It does not matter what people think; you can only influence their opinion to a limit. Example, you could sacrifice your entire life preparing for your fourth great grandchild, but you have no control over their opinion of you.  

Judgment

Yet, some still beg the question: What am I leaving for my kids? Or, what is the legacy I am leaving behind? Now obviously, I am not instructing anyone to leave their children with nothing, or to not consider their eventual feelings. As a parent, and as a human, it is our inherent duty to provide our offspring with better opportunities and conditions than we were given. However, we should not equate our legacy (the opinions of anyone) with God’s judgement. The judgement of others should not be our priority. For starters, Jesus stated:  

“Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?” (Matt. 7:1-3) 

Why take on the task of judgment at all? Which metric do you use to determine judgement? Are you worthy to cast the first stone (John 8:7)? To go even further, do we inadvertently condemn ourselves by biasedly judging our own merit? Should you absolve yourself of your own sins? When you conclude you are saved, what metrics do you utilize to make that determination? Nevertheless, judge not. Take no judgements into consideration but one. We are human, we are not perfect. To be human is to be imperfect, but to be Christian is to strive for perfection. And as Christians, we truly understand and accept that our perfection can only be accomplished through the reliance of a perfect being. We are not arrogant; we do not think we are perfect; we know we are imperfect. However, as we strive for perfection we understand, only one judgement is valid. 

Conclusion

So, to the original question: Why? What is your motive? If the answer is Legacy, know that you are putting your imperfect self in the hands of imperfect beings, who will inevitably incorporate infinite amounts of imperfect variables to judge you. The probability of success is exponential. You could spend your entire life building a savings account, but you have absolutely no clue what the state of the economy will be in your passing, as well as the mental state of the individual that inherits that account. Nevertheless, 

“Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?” (Matt. 5:42-46) 

Strive for perfection: unemotional, cognitive, fluid reaction at all time. Emit sound peace at a low frequency that unconditionally affects all environments you encounter; an unbiased love for all. As Christians, our motives cannot be biased or reliant upon opinion. When we act, we must act out of sheer righteousness. When unsure, we must rely upon the sureness that is God. For, 

“Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:6-9)