My sister and I were having a conversation the other day about the lawyer who prepared my
father’s will. There were two major flaws that resulted in separate negotiations among 15 heirs,
which normally is not an easy maneuver but in this case was blessed by God.

Our conversation involved the lawyer’s life’s legacy. We were considering how this man conducted his business and his life. He thought of himself as a Christian, he taught Sunday School and was well respected in the community but, according to our experience, his work product was quite poor.

He created havoc where there should have been none. Instead of getting good counsel, or possibly having received good counsel but a bad work product, our family was left with unneeded turmoil.

Thankfully, God in His immeasurable grace used this instance to teach our extended family the power of also giving grace to one another. That sweet legacy is credited to our upbringing by my parents.

Unfortunately this man’s Christian legacy has been tainted by his poor work practices. I
understand he died with a file of prepared wills with problems. I am certainly not going to judge
his heart — that’s Jesus’ job — but his actions speak so poorly of him as to embarrass his own
heirs.

That made me think and look inwardly as to how others may perceive my Lord and Savior
Jesus based on my words and actions. When I leave my body behind and am no longer on this
Earth will anyone, anywhere, have benefited from the actions of my life?

Certainly monetarily, as my possessions will be left behind because God’s word tells us, “As he
came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his
toil that he may carry away in his hand.” What I am speaking about is, will my allotted 70 or 80 years on Earth have had an eternal benefit on others, or rather will I have honored Jesus and
brought glory to God by my actions here on Earth?

This question certainly got me to thinking and looking in the mirror. I imagine that no matter
how much we consider in what way others may view us, our self-examination is always skewed
in our own favor. That makes looking at ourselves from the outside more difficult, but I gave it a
shot.

Considering my career, by the grace of God I was always a diligent worker, and as I became a
stronger Christian I pledged that hard work to Jesus, as we are told in the Bible, “Whatever you
do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.”

That may not have always been at the forefront of my mind, but it was not so far back that I ever forgot who I was working for. It even led to some awkward moments with some of my employers when I was asked to do or approve of something that I considered morally or legally questionable, such as backdating mail or giving false excuses.

In one instance one of my employers asked me in front of a client to back-date some mail,
which I would not do. I had long before determined that I would only answer to Jesus and not
man and if, in this case, I might be terminated surely God had other plans in place for me.

The boss was slightly embarrassed, but I was not terminated, possibly because of other conversations
we had during my employment where he knew that my faith in Jesus directed my actions.

Whether witnessing my faith made any difference in his personal life I will never know, because
he has now left behind all of his earthly possessions and moved into eternity.

When I look in the mirror to see how I conduct myself in my marriage I know I seek to follow
God’s words in scripture about how husbands and wives are to relate in marriage, and I do submit
to my husband’s authority as is given to him in scripture.

Submission isn’t considered a positive action today, and when we were first married I would have fought it if I had been told this was expected. But now, after years of knowing the gracious love of my Savior Jesus as well as the love of my husband, I have no problem at all with scriptural submission.

Once I finally learned to submit my life to Jesus that made it much easier to trust my husband, who himself answers to Jesus.

In the end what really matters is not what people think of me, but only that my life points to the
beauty and holiness of Christ; that they see not me but God and His great works.