Leaving Something Behind

Proverbs 13:22 (KJV)

A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children.

Notice how far the verse looks. Not to his children. To his children's children. A good man builds with a timescale longer than his own life.

That is a hard way to think when this month is difficult. Planning for grandchildren feels like a luxury for people whose bills are already covered. But inheritance is not only money. It is a paid-off house, a skill taught, a business that keeps running, a habit of honesty, a family that prays. Some of the richest inheritances in Cameroon were left by people who were not rich.

The opposite is also true and worth naming. Debt is an inheritance. So is a pattern of anger, or a family story that says people like us never get anywhere. Something is being passed on either way.

Do one thing today that only pays off after you are gone. That is what the verse means by good.