Living with Legacy Vision in the Pursuit of Life Change

If a perfect stranger asked your children to describe you, what would they say?

Might they share as my son did when he was in preschool, “Well, my mom vacuums a lot. And she gives great hugs.” Or would they have his twin’s perspective: “She works on the computer, takes me on errands with her, and doesn’t like to be interrupted.” Ahem. True, but not quite as endearing.  

If you asked my teen daughters to describe me now compared to when they were little, you’d get quite a different perspective. They might say something like, “She used to yell A LOT and would get angry over the littlest thing. Thankfully, she’s not like that anymore, and is way more fun to be with, when she’s not under stress from work.” 

Oh yes, the girls could tell you many stories, like the time I slammed the dresser drawer in and out again and again in an irrational fit or when I lost my cool while frosting a crumbling birthday cake . . . you might be able to imagine how it ended up on the floor, ceiling, and everywhere else. While I’d like to erase these memories from their minds, I can’t. However, there’s solace in the fact that they've witnessed real life transformation firsthand -- they remember the before while thanking God for the after. 

I’m not that crazed woman anymore, because God drew me into a process of life transformation.

Becoming the new me came about in a way I never saw coming when my husband challenged me to deal with the “issue” beneath the “issue.” As I share about in Meet the New You, that "calling out" propelled me to seek the help of a Christian counselor, after years of trying to change on my own. It turned out that while I was focused on trying to manage my anger, I really needed to deal with the tangled web of guilt, shame, unforgiveness, bitterness, and resentment tied to my past. 

Through the work of the Holy Spirit combined with my time in counseling, I was able to heal from the pain stored up in my heart. The time-bomb residing in my heart was deactivated by God's grace and truth, while He also gave me a pattern for how to put into place new habits for how I would respond to life's issues.

Our responses are conditioned, and so when we want to change how we're living, we have to first start with what we're thinking.

We live according to what we believe.

So when we want our habits to change, we have to line them up with the Truth.

This process is what I described as the Trap & Transform principle in Meet the New You, where the goal is to trap every thought (2 Corinthians 10:5) to see how it lines up with Scripture while asking God to transform our behavior through the renewing our minds with the Truth (Romans 12:2). Friend, when God gets into our thinking, He really does change our living with one habit change at a time. String all those habits together over a day, a night, a week, a year, and you too will become the new you. It's not an overnight process . . . it's a lifetime journey worth taking because of the impact it has on those we love the most. 

God desires to transform us into the women we long to become for the sake of the next generation. {click to tweet}

As moms, isn't that all the motivation we need for embracing real life change?

This is what I call living with a legacy vision. Friend, it’s worth the risk of our pride for the sake of our children’s gain as we consider how our behavior today is going to impact them long term. Whatever is stored up in our hearts is oozing all over the ones we love. Why not let it be Jesus, who has the power to change us from the inside out? 

So, friend, will you say “yes” to an ongoing transformation journey with God and muster up the courage to ask yourself, and the Lord, these questions:

1. What would my children say about me now?
2. What would they say about me when they grow up? 
3. How will this shape the way they treat their own children? 
4. What in me needs to change so that I leave a legacy I’m proud of — one that gives God glory and invites my children and grandchildren to encounter Jesus personally throughout their lives?

When God accomplishes His sanctifying, life-changing work in us, He changes our legacy for His glory.  Imagine what transformation looks like on the other side of what feels like is impossible to change right now! Imagine telling, “the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.”  (Psalm 78:4)

Consider, my friend, how wonderful it will be for the next generation to declare the praises of God as they describe the amazing amazing transformation He accomplished in their momma.

Isn't that worth your effort?

Still Becoming More,

Lisa Pulliam

moretobe.com & elisapulliam.com

If you need more encouragement like this, then consider Meet the New You (available where ever books are sold). It will guide you on a 21-day journey of embracing fresh attitudes and focused habits for real life change and enable you to have legacy impact on the next generation.