Last time we talked about giving a Godly Heritage, even though you might have been given a Godly Heritage. We'll continue that discussion today...

Are Some Privileged?

If you are one who was handed rags (a poor heritage), your response to the women who received the "gown" (a Godly Heritage) may be cynicism -- even anger.

"They were born with a silver spoon in their mouth."
"Their life is easier than mine."
"God is a respecter of persons."

Watch out for jealousy
Bitter jealousy can quickly overshadow the lessons to be learned from their experience. Sure, it may be easier for them. OK, you had it harder. Of course the process will be more difficult for you. So what? As Booker T. Washington said in his autobiography, Up from Slavery, "Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life, as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed."

You can successfully give what you didn't receive. Will it be easy? No. Will it be worth it? You bet!

When my wife, Gail, shares how to pass a heritage with others, many "disqualify" her because she was raised in a solid home. "That's easy for her to say. She had a good heritage."

It's true that in many cases an individual who has experienced a particular set of circumstances is more sensitive to others in that situation. A woman who lost her mother in a car accident, for instance, may have a better idea what to say to someone in similar grief than she would if both parents were living.

But when a man has survived cancer, he doesn't necessarily need an expert in disease who can help him with nutrition and other aspects of normal living. For the person who is trying to create a heritage, an individual from a good family legacy can give advice about family health. After all, Gail had the choice to reject the heritage. She had the same pull of the beguiling "ne'er do well" crowd as anyone else. But she chose to keep the good and pass it on. Those who are wise watch and learn from people like Gail, rather than resent them.

You see, the techniques and goals for passing a solid heritage are the same for everyone. They work when used. But the effort required is greater for some than others. The fact that "it's easier for them" is beside the point. Learn from those who do it well. Give the extra effort to make it work for you too. Don't let jealousy distract your focus.

Watch out for anger
Jealousy, like anger, is a pilferer, robbing us of the very thing we are focused on. Jealousy deceives us into believing he has the rightful place at the forefront. He makes us believe he is our protector when he is really nothing more than a confidence man in a pin-striped suit. Such jealousy will force you to focus on the bad and will only allow you to see half your life -- and that half won't be your best, but the broken part.

When we suffer a broken finger, arm, or leg, we quickly forget how good all the other parts of our body feel while focusing all of our attention toward that fractured bone. The same is true with a festering boil, a toothache, or any other painful nuisance. It is our nature to fix the hurt. Even though our eyes, ears, nose, stomach, heart and lungs, liver, kidneys, intestines, spleen, throat, brain, and everything else is healthy, we become consumed with the one area that hurts, and fix it -- or fixate on it.

The same is true when it comes to trying to pass a heritage. We lock onto what we consider broken. We focus on the negative elements of our past, the failures we've encountered, and the overwhelming nature of the hill we must climb. And all too often, we fixate on the broken part, rather than resolve to set it right. That is tragic.

Jesus Christ is in the business of fixing that which is broken. He frees us from the burden of past pain and failure. As He did with the woman caught in adultery, He sees past our weakness and our inadequacy and gives us something wonderful -- a fresh start. Remember the words? "Go and sin no more." Those words were an invitation to start anew -- to put the past behind and break the cycle of hurt. Jesus offered that woman an opportunity to break free from the negative and begin again.

He offers us the same opportunity. We can start anew. But as long as we fixate our attention on the broken parts of our heritage, we will never move forward. If we allow parental failures, past abuse, childhood neglect, or any other painful nuisance to dominate our attention, it will keep us trapped in the cycle of pain -- and rob future generations of the freedom we might have secured.

That's it for now! In the next newsletter, we'll talk about three important aspects to overcoming a weak heritage.

Adapted from Your Heritage by J. Otis Ledbetter & Kurt Bruner.  All rights reserved.  HeritageBuilders.com