This is a subject that has always been of great interest to me over the nine plus years that I have been raising children. I have always desired to know what are the really important things to pass on…

• the traditions and memories of family life…
• the honesty and intimacy of our relationships with each child…
• the Faith of our Fathers within a personal relationship with our Creator….
• the life skills that help us survive when things are tough….
• vocational skills that will give security in a changing world

• manners and a compassion that serves others first

• financial investments that will provide comfort/even luxury

These are a few of the things that we hope to leave to our children, but I still wanted to hear what God said was the most important thing we could give to our descendents that would ensure their favor with God and man. What was "the best thing" to leave with them as an inheritance?

Recently, my husband and I felt the Lord was prodding us to do estate planning--to take care of the children's' guardianship and to provide a means for our five children to be raised together in the event that we died before completing this responsibility ourselves. We spent a lot of time searching our hearts and His Word for the way we should respond to this charge. We finally contacted my husband's older, single sister to ask her to prayerfully consider the guardianship of our children as a whole (we felt strongly that we did not want them separated from each other and raised in different homes.) She called us back and said yes, she would assume that responsibility if anything should happen to both of us. We felt blessed, because for many of our friends there was not a family member to choose from for differing reasons. Having settled whom the guardian would be, we then researched and decided the way we would provide for their future needs (we both took out term life insurance policies). This is what worked for us, but may not necessarily be the best approach for you. But there was more to it than this.

During this time of praying, searching and implementing, I began to see that:

God's Word says, "Children are a blessing, the fruit of the womb is His Inheritance…"

He specifically deals with children throughout the old and new testaments in many ways…almost always in some way like a guardian. He teaches Israel to value and to see children as a blessing from him. He sees them as His Reward. Getting the Lord's perspective on this issue is extremely important if you are going to leave the best possible inheritance for them in the future.

I also found scriptures that dealt with the children belonging to the Lord--as if I was only a surrogate parent for a short time. He began to reveal to me that the very best inheritance is not found on earth at all…it is only truly given in death…a true paradox. Life conquers death! We have LIFE and Life more abundantly now and then. God’s love is this life!

How important is love? Jesus said the Greatest commandment is LOVE--expressing itself in faith-filled actions and words! Our children will only be what they SEE us be and what they HEAR us talking. We want to leave them an eternal inheritance, and love is that inheritance.

The very best inheritance we can give our children is that we live every day for God (making the most of every day and every minute), fully and creatively expressing our love for God, our children, and the people we meet. Politicians say that the inheritance that we leave is the society that we build and maintain. The environmentalists confer that it is the air, soil and water that we give! Preachers say it is stocking our treasure in heaven by good deeds and works. But the bottom line is:

DO YOU HAVE JESUS ?

IF YES, THEN GIVE THE BEST (JESUS)…BECAUSE ONLY WHAT YOU HAVE CAN YOU TRULY GIVE AWAY!

IF NO, THEN FIND OUT NOW HOW TO RECEIVE HIM SO YOU TOO CAN LEAVE THE BEST INHERITANCE FOR YOUR CHILDREN AND THEIR CHILDREN’S CHILDREN—A GODLY OFFSPRING (THE INHERITANCE OF THE LORD!!)  Click on Christian Basics.  

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