What is Your Greatest Fear?
Four prescriptives for living an enriching life and leaving a lasting legacy
According to the National Institute of Health, “About 77% of the general population fears public speaking” (1). Believe it or not, this fear easily outranks people’s fear of death. Recently, a student asked me, “What is your greatest fear?” I thought for a moment and I answered. “My greatest fear is that I will leave nothing of true value behind.” Even as I gave that response, I realized I had to qualify “value” with the adjective “true” due to our twisted concept of value, usually concerning something material and temporal.
In what is believed to be the Apostle Paul’s last letter before martyrdom, he wrote the following to Timothy, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2). This line provides a window into the wise mind of the great Apostle. Some of his final words to Timothy were his looking back on the Christian life as one of battle, race, and perseverance. Such that, in the end, he will have left something behind of true value and infinite worth. And so it is with us. That something is the lifelong effect of the gospel of Jesus Christ on both yourself and the people with whom you’ve touched, and places in which you were blessed to have been a part.
“My greatest fear is that I will leave nothing of true value behind.”
Moreover, Paul poignantly and succinctly instructs the younger Timothy, and us, on how to live a life such that you leave behind something of true value. He tells Timothy, “But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry” (3). Here are four clear and wise directives for living a life pleasing to Christ and one that is penetrating to the world. Let’s take each of these in turn.
Keep Your Head
In all situations, be sober-minded. In other words, practice intellectual self-control. The tough situations with which you as a Christian spouse, parent, or colleague call for rational, logical, and spirit-filled thinking and, consequently, decision-making.
2. Endure Hardship
The reality of suffering and hardships is not a matter of if, but when. When adversity strikes, we are called to endure. It is often easy to bail, particularly when escaping offers short-term benefits. However, endurance through hardship builds character, strengthens future resolve, and enhances our closest relationships. Enduring tough times provides a powerful example for those in your circle of influence.
“However, endurance through hardship builds character, strengthens future resolve, and enhances our closest relationships.”
3. Do the Work of an Evangelist
This admonition appears to be out of place. How does this fit in, particularly as it relates to leaving something of lasting value? Yet, after a brief reflection, this direction makes perfect sense. If, as Christians, we are regularly and intentionally participating in gospel conversations with unbelievers in prayerful hope that they come to Christ, we are spreading lasting value of immeasurable worth to those with whom we come in contact.
4. Discharge All Your Duties of Ministry
Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter provides a lovely sequence of “ups” that succinctly describes the final piece in this four-part sequence. She says, “Show up, speak up, look up, team up, never give up, and lift others up” (4). Do what you are supposed to do, how you are supposed to do it, when you are supposed to do it. Striving to be both effective and excellent in the responsibilities that God has given you is a critical ingredient in the recipe for lasting value.
As followers of Christ, when we live lives such as described by Paul to Timothy in the word of God, we can do so without fear of whether or not we will leave anything behind of true value. For, indeed, a life well lived under this banner will leave behind an indelible mark.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3647380/
Second Timothy 4:7, NIV
Second Timothy 4:5, NIV
https://emsleadershipacademy.com/six-keys-to-leading-positive-change-rosabeth-moss-kanter/
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