It came to me as I was chopping carrots.  I was so floored by it that I almost couldn’t manage to finish making dinner:

Some spend their entire lives struggling in order that those who come after might possess an even greater measure of victory than they themselves have.

This is what the apostles were all about.  Every one of them lived, suffered, and died that those of us who came after could possess a victory fuller than what they had.  For that matter, men and women of the Old Testament did this as well – Abraham, Moses, David, Ruth, and Esther, to name a few.  The things they did paved the way for a victory that they never fully saw in their lifetimes.  To bring it closer to home, this is what my parents have done for me.  The areas in which they have overcome will be areas in which I will have victory because of their struggles.  This victory is my greatest inheritance.

“[The Lord] brought out his people with rejoicing,
his chosen ones with shouts of joy;
he gave them the lands of the nations,
and they fell heir to what others had toiled for –
that they might keep his precepts
and observe his laws.” (Psalms 105:43-44)

It is the duty of earthly kings not only to guard what has been entrusted to them but also to expand it for the next generation.  The great kings of history were not those who mismanaged what they had or let it fall to ruin; no, the great kings were those who strove and conquered, who obtained great things that their children and their children’s children might live in that success.  It is the inheritance they pass down to the younger generation.  As sons and daughters of the King of kings, ransomed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, victory is always our inheritance.

“…everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” (1 John 5:4-5)

To pass on victory is one of the greatest goals we can have.  Christ paid the price so that we could obtain victory, but victory is useless if we do not walk in it.  The ultimate objective of mothering and fathering is to lift up the next generation to a higher place than the previous one was at.  Mothering and fathering is not just a matter of having children; it is about nurturing and bringing our own victory into someone else’s life.  I am only a teenager and I have already done some mothering, not only of small children but also of young people several years older than myself.  And it is my honor to do so.  I want to build a legacy for others and for the children I will someday have – a victorious legacy that will not only last but will increase.  To carry out this victory is both a duty and a privilege.

“For the Lord takes delight in his people;
he crowns the humble with victory.
Let his faithful people rejoice in this honor
and sing for joy on their beds.  (Psalms 149:4-5)

We cannot allow ourselves to carelessly cast aside the victories of the past or even complacently hold onto them.  If we want to truly bring heaven to earth and show Christ to the world, we have to start walking in victory – and not merely the victories of the past, but victories still greater.  Let us live in such a way that we create a legacy of victory for all who follow, generation upon generation, because we serve a mighty and victorious God.

“‘It is an end worth fighting for….It may be for others to complete what we’ve begun, but there must be a beginning.  And we will carry this fight as far as we can before passing it on to those who come after.'” – from Tuck by Stephen Lawhead