Leave a Legacy? Forget It

In college, I attended a Bible study with all the other dorm leaders. One day the group leader had us read the obituaries of two extraordinary people. Lives of selfless service to the Lord had left a legacy of faith, compassion, and charity. They were remembered by the many people they had blessed. Both were the kind of people we all aspired to be. 

The next assignment was to write down what we’d like our legacy to be, how we’d like to be remembered. Decades later, I still recall feeling uncomfortable at the prospect. Sure, we’d all love to be affectionately remembered, but should that ever be our focus? I wasn’t sure. It all felt rather self-centered. 

WHAT CELEBRITIES SAY

It seems everyone is concerned with their legacy, especially the rich and famous. 

Carve your name on hearts, not tombstones. A legacy is etched into the minds of others and the stories they share about you. — Shannon Alder, author

For me, I just want to be a role model, put a positive impact on the kids that are watching the sport [of racing], that want to be a part of the sport, and leave a good everlasting impact on the sport, continue my legacy down the road. — Bubba Wallace, stock car racer

My legacy is that I stayed on course… from the beginning to the end, because I believed in something inside of me. — Tina Turner, singer

You make your mark by being true to who you are and letting that be your lasting legacy. — Oprah Winfrey, talk show host

No matter what happens in life, be good to people. Being good to people is a wonderful legacy to leave behind. — Taylor Swift, singer

What is your legacy? Are you intentional about the sort of influence you want to have on the world around you? Being aware of how you want to be remembered gives you a perspective on what is truly important. — John Maxwell, author 

Lovely words. These sentiments rightly state that kindness, compassion, integrity, and relationships are far more important than wealth, power, prestige, and accolades. 

However, the Bible says something else entirely. It takes the stance that making a lasting name for yourself, even as a devoted follower of Christ, shouldn’t be our concern. That is, focusing on our legacy – how we’ll be remembered by generations to come – is entirely unbiblical.

WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS

Where in the Bible does it talk about striving to leave a legacy? Nowhere. Sure, God sometimes promises to make a name for someone (like Abraham in Gen 12:2 or David in 2 Sam 7:9), but nowhere does he tell people to strive for it themselves. 

Rather, the Bible repeatedly tells us to focus on God, not ourselves. 

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory because of your lovingkindness, because of your truth. (Ps 115:1)

“Seek my face.” My heart said to you, “your face, O Lord, I shall seek.” (Ps 27:8)

The few places in the Bible where men sought to establish a lasting legacy serve as warnings rather than models to follow. 

Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves… its name was called Babel. (Gen 11:4-9)

Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself. (1 Sam 15:12)

Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up for himself the pillar that is in the King's Valley, for he said, “I have no son to keep my name in remembrance.” He called the pillar after his own name, and it is called Absalom's monument to this day. (2 Sam 18:18)

Their respective legacies remain with us thousands of years later, but not in the way they intended. The builders of Babel were scattered; Saul fell in battle after years of madness; Absolom died as a traitor running for his life. Glory, greatness, power – that’s not how they’re remembered. They’re now biblical examples of what not to do.

WE’LL ALL BE FORGOTTEN

Although we’d all like to be remembered, the vast majority of us will be forgotten by those who outlive us. Carmen Imes said it this way:

Can you name your great-great grandmother? No? Neither can I. This is a sobering thought. In all likelihood, my children’s grandchildren will barely know me, and to their children my name will mean nothing. We are but a blip on the screen, a fleeting moment in a series of fleeting moments… You and I are dispensable. People die all the time, and the world keeps turning without their hard work. If we lift a bucket of water out of the ocean, it does not leave a hole. (1)

As much as we like to think we’re important, one day each of us will die and the earth will keep spinning despite our departure from it. 

Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity… There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after. (Ecc 1:1,11)

Same goes for God’s plans – we’re not irreplaceable to his purposes. If we die or give up, or fail miserably to fulfill our spiritual calling, God’s will will still be done. We can’t thwart him. 

Job answered the Lord and said: “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” (Job 42:1-2)

Neither our actions nor our death can stop God’s kingdom from moving and growing. We are certainly important to God, but he doesn’t need us. 

Similarly, we’re all important to those who love us now, but a few generations later, it’ll seem as if we didn’t exist at all. A humbling thought. Like flowers that bloom in the spring and disappear by fall, we’re all temporary and replaceable here on earth. Nothing about us – accomplishments, lives touched, legacy – will last.

As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. (Ps 103:15-16)

All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass. (Is 40:6-7)

Not once in the Bible are we taught to establish a legacy for ourselves, whether for godliness or any other reason. 

JESUS DISREGARDED HIS OWN GLORY

Jesus, in the few decades he walked the earth, made the greatest impact in the history of the world, but even he didn’t seek a lasting legacy.

“I do not seek my own glory.” (Jn 8:50)

His focus was entirely off of himself. Instead, he was completely devoted to what he was sent to do: glorify his Father. 

[Jesus said], “For this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” (Jn 12:27-28)

Even near the end of his life, when he knew heavenly glory would soon be his, Jesus still deflected everything to his Father. Any glory that would be his would come from God, not from himself.

Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you…  I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. (Jn 17:1-5)

A legacy of godliness may echo through future generations, but is that really our legacy? Isn’t it that presence of Christ that perpetuates throughout history? Any positive impact we have in this world, any lasting legacy, is all because of the Holy Spirit working through us. The glory belongs to God, not us. 

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Eph 3:20-21)

Striving to be remembered – for our name to be renowned – puts our focus on ourselves rather than on God. At best, it’s futile (“Vanity of vanities”); at worst, it’s a form of idolatry. 

SUMMARY

Like it or not, the monuments we leave behind – whether physical or relational – will one day mean nothing. They’ll all crumble to dust and be forgotten. 

When it comes to leaving a legacy, we would do well to simply forget about it. Christian psychologist James Dobson got it right:

My legacy doesn't matter. It isn't important that I be remembered. It's important that when I stand before the Lord, he says, 'Well done, good and faithful servant.'

Striving to establish a lasting name for yourself, for whatever reason, isn’t biblical. Jesus was completely unconcerned with it, as were the other great men and women of faith in the Bible. Ironically, the best way to ensure your godly legacy is to disregard it and instead “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Mt 6:33). Our focus shouldn’t be on how we’ll be remembered but how God is known during our lifetime. 

I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other. (Is 42:8)

Let’s do all we can for God in the short time we have on earth and not fret about how we’re remembered. It won’t matter in the long run and it’ll only distract us from what’s really important.

© D. B. Ryen Incorporated, November 2025.

All Scripture quotations are from The English Standard Bible (ESV), Crossway, 2001. 

(1) Imes, Carmen. Being God’s Image. IVP Academic, 2023. Pg 97-99.