Everything You Need to Know About Living a Legacy of Faith
Do you admire families with a legacy of faith? You can have your own! Here’s everything you need to know to make it happen.
READING TIME: 8 MINUTES
What if you could leave an inheritance to your family worth more than money—one that would allow not only your children, but the lives of everyone you touch, to defeat sickness and disease, continually increase financially, and enjoy supernatural success in relationships? That would be a legacy of mountain-moving, demon-defeating, immovable, unbeatable faith.
Billy Graham said, “The greatest legacy one can pass on to one’s children and grandchildren is a legacy of character and faith.”
You can live your own legacy of faith—the kind you admire in others from afar—and pass it on to your children and grandchildren, just like Billy Graham did. The only prerequisite is that you must be a born-again child of God. Your past, your family, your education or financial status—even your present—are of no consequence. Your future determines your legacy, and your future begins today.
You don’t have to wait until you graduate to heaven to leave a legacy. You can begin by living it now. Here is everything you need to know about living your own legacy of faith.
1. Start From Scratch If You Need To
“Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts.” –Psalm 145:5
Kenneth Copeland’s grandson Jeremy Pearsons says, “The life you live is the legacy you leave.”
If you didn’t grow up in a family of faith, living your own legacy of faith might seem like an overwhelming task. Fear not! A legacy isn’t for a select few—it’s for everyone. It isn’t just for those raised in Christian homes, people who have attended Bible college or the ministers on TV. It is for every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.
If you were raised in a broken home, one with abuse or one without any faith, you can start from scratch if you need to. Some of the most powerful faith families began with one person who was willing to break out of their past and create a new future by choosing to live their own legacy of faith.
It’s never too late to begin living a legacy of faith. You can live a life that exemplifies faith before the next generation and change the legacy of your family. That’s a powerful truth!
2. Be Willing to Leave Your Current Legacy
“Go from your country, your people and your father’s household…. I will make your name great.” –Genesis 12:1-2 (NIV)
To live your own legacy of faith, there is something important to keep in mind. There are two kinds of legacies: the one you keep and the one you leave. If you were raised in a family of faith, it’s important to learn your place in that legacy. Your parents may be pastors or have their own ministry, or perhaps you come from a long line of Christian authors or evangelists. Whatever the case may be, do not assume that their legacy is also yours to live out.
To have your own legacy of faith, you’ve got to tune in to what the Lord is saying to YOU. He created you as an individual, and He has a plan for your life that is uniquely tailored to your callings and giftings. Indeed, He may desire to use you within the context of your current family legacy, but it’s vital that you hear from Him directly.
Wondering if you’re hearing from Him? Learn 4 Ways to Know if You’re Hearing God’s Voice HERE.
If He is calling you away from the legacy in which you were raised, be like Abraham and heed the call—even if you don’t know where you’re going. Many Christians allow uncertainty and fear to block them from hearing and obeying the call of God to their own legacy.
On the other side of things, maybe you need to leave a legacy of poverty, sickness, negativity or abuse. It takes courage to break free, remove yourself from those relationships, and create a new legacy, but Jesus has come to set you free from every curse! You can do everything through Christ, who gives you strength (Philippians 4:13).
Whatever you do—have courage and be willing to hear. Fear is an enemy to living a legacy of faith. It keeps people locked in the same place. That’s the definition of prison—an area with walls that limit how far someone can go. Don’t allow yourself to be locked in a prison by the expectations of others or fear of the unknown. Step out into the future God has for you.
3. Get Your Own God
“O God, you are my God.” –Psalm 63:1 (ESV)
Part of living a legacy of faith is developing a relationship with God that is all your own, not based on the experiences of others. If you were raised in a household of faith, don’t live on the faith of your parents or grandparents—get your own God!
What does it mean to get your own God? It means you have your own testimony, your own experiences with Him, and your own miracles.
Your family, your pastors and the ministers you watch on television cannot be the source of your faith. What you learn from them will be nothing more than head knowledge if you do not have your own relationship with the Lord. Let the faith of others supplement and strengthen what you already have, but don’t make it all you have.
When you have your own God, you will:
- Spend daily time with Him in your own way.
- Hear from Him regularly and respond to His instructions.
- Always have a new testimony of His goodness to you.
- Trust Him and stand in faith without always needing someone else to pray for you.
There has to come a time in your life where you get your own God—not your mother’s God, your grandfather’s God, or your pastor’s God. As Sarah Pearsons says, “You have to have your own story with God.” That’s your legacy.
4. Find Your Faith Family
“Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.” –Psalm 92:13 (NKJV)
Part of getting your own God is finding your faith family—the place where the Lord wants you rooted and planted. Many believers don’t seem to realize the importance of finding a faith family. They’re missing out on one of the avenues God uses to bless them and speak to them.
Here’s why finding a church home is important: Christianity is not a religion; it’s a family with a Father. A church isn’t supposed to be an organization—it’s supposed to be a family.
Psalm 68:6 says, “God sets the solitary in families” (NKJV). He has ordained that each one of us would have a family to belong to. You may not even have one biological family member in your life, but His plan is to set you in a family—a family of faith.
That’s why the Church is called the House of the Lord. “Blessed are those who dwell in Your house” Psalm 84:4 (NKJV). “But the rebellious dwell in a dry land” (Psalm 68:6, NKJV). It’s dry, lonely and boring to not be part of a family. Yet a lot of people choose that because they’ve been hurt or offended in a family or a church family.
Being part of a church family isn’t just about what you can get—it’s about what you can give. No one is without “church hurts.” But isolation is selfish and damaging to both you and the Body of Christ.
Are you part of the KCM family? Join us today! Kenneth and Gloria Copeland pray over their Partners every day, making sure you are never alone.
Put yourself in a family of faith. Build relationships with other believers without fear and a guarded spirit. It’s an integral part of having your own legacy of faith.
Looking for a church home? Check out our Partner churches here.
5. Build Your Whole Life on the Word of God
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” –Matthew 7:24 (ESV)
To live a legacy of faith, you have to be willing to build your whole life on the Word of God.
That means you work overtime to make sure everything you believe, say and do is in line with the Word, even if it means looking different from everyone else (we should!) or facing persecution.
It means speaking health when everyone else is speaking sickness, and speaking protection when others speak danger. It means speaking prosperity when the news is speaking economic downturn. It’s remaining steadfast in your marriage, even when Christians all around you turn to divorce. It’s staying out of debt when the world says you can’t live without it.
When you build your whole life on the Word of God, you’re living a legacy of faith that will be noticeable to your family and all those around you. They will be touched by the way you live—even inspired. The world already knows how to fail—they’re looking for people to show them how to be victorious.
6. Share Your Glory Story
“One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts.” –Psalm 145:4 (NKJV)
When you’re victorious in this life through Christ Jesus, you can have your own legacy of faith by sharing your glory story with the next generation—especially your children and grandchildren. Deuteronomy 11:19 tells us how to share our glory story. We are to talk about the goodness of God and what He has done for us all the time. When we’re out and about, when we’re home, when we wake up and when we go to bed.
Put away the electronics and the cellphones, and find those quiet moments to tell your glory story. You may never know the impact of the things you share—they are seeds planted and watered over time. And they will yield a harvest in your family.
Need more ideas about sharing your glory story and living out your faith before your family? Find them HERE.
7. Just Keep Walking
“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord.” –Psalm 27:13 (NKJV)
As you share your glory story from victories past, you can live your own legacy of faith by working toward your next glory story and living it out before the next generation. Show them how to use faith to get where your heart desires to go.
For more on living from glory to glory, find Jeremy and Sarah Pearsons’ new devotional, From Glory to Glory HERE.
If you feel like it’s taking a long time for the visions in your heart to come to pass, this is your moment to live out a legacy of faith before your children. Let them see how you respond in faith.
Jeremy and Sarah Pearsons once asked Gloria Copeland, Jeremy’s grandmother, “How do we get from where we are to where we want to be?”
Gloria said something so simple, but so profound. She said, “Just keep walking.” They wanted a big explanation full of all her secrets. But all they needed to hear was “Just keep walking” in this life of faith.
What does that mean?
It means just keep living by faith. Keep obeying God. Move when He tells you to move, stay when He tells you to stay, and sow when He tells you to sow. Each of these things moves you one step forward in your walk of faith.
The walk of faith can seem long at times! That’s because it’s a process—a lifestyle. But if you keep walking, you’re guaranteed to arrive at your destination.
Watch Kenneth and Gloria Copeland teach you how to build a foundation of faith for your family.
8. Don’t Give Up
“So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.” –Galatians 6:9
Don’t give up. This is part of your glory story—living your own legacy of faith. It’s easy to give up—but there’s no legacy in that. When you show your children and grandchildren that you don’t give up when things get tough or when your miracle doesn’t come instantaneously—that’s living a legacy of faith. It’s an inheritance that is worth more than any amount of money.
So often, Christians quit right before they see their miracle. Even if you feel weary and faint, it doesn’t have to be the end of your journey. Choose to stay the course. You will reap if you don’t faint. You can have a setback and still remain in the fight. The only thing you can’t afford to lose is heart because once you’ve lost heart—you’re out.
Don’t ever let yourself say, “Unless I see a change, I’m quitting.” Start saying, “I’m believing to see the goodness of the Lord in my marriage, my job, my health.” That’s your legacy.
Watch Kenneth Copeland and Keith Moore teach you how to have faith for your family.
These keys are everything you need to know about living your own legacy of faith! As you put this into practice, you will live a legacy of faith that will change the course of generation after generation to come. It starts with you. You can have the legacy you’ve always dreamed of—all because of your precious decision to pursue God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength!
Related Articles:
Make Faith a Family Affair With These 4 Fun and Easy Tips
How to Create a Godly Atmosphere in Your Home
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