“The memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot” (Proverbs 10:7, NKJV). This odd passage from my recently devotions keeps coming back to my mind. How true it is though even as we consider those that we have known personally or heard about in history. Later in that same book the writer records that a good name is better than the greatest earthly riches we can accumulate (Proverbs 22:1). It makes me wonder how people will remember me…will the recalling of my name and my life bless someone or will it be like rottenness to them? The Bible Knowledge Commentary well said: “even thinking about righteous people of the past can be a source of spiritual blessing. By contrast most people want to forget the wicked. Like their character, even their names are corrupt, rotting like a corpse.”
So what makes for a great name, one that when recalled by others results in a blessing to them, not making them angry or sick? There are two things, the first of which is having a right heart. Jesus said that out of the heart the mouth speaks, whether good or bad (Matthew 12:34-35). If our heart is right before Him, that which proceeds out of us will reflect that to others that our lives touch. Such a life will be bearing fruit that is good and pleasing, not rotten and disgusting, and our communication and relationships with others will reflect that (Galatians 5:19-26). Secondly is having the right focus, not on things that discourage and tear down but on the things that are true, good, and focused on the eternal outlook rather than the temporary struggles of life (2 Corinthians 4:17-18; Philippians 4:8). Having the right focus also exudes from a person as others around see a living example that is worth the remembering. It is hard to earn a rotten name when you have God’s goodness and joy overflowing from your life to others!
It isn’t necessarily the great works one does that makes a life worth a blessed memory, and certainly not how rich one was or what achievements they accomplished. It also isn’t a perfectly lived life, but one that aimed to be the best example that they could that we remember pleasantly. So the question remains: How will I be remembered? How will you? What are we going to do differently to leave a legacy of joy rather than of disgust, or just as bad, be completely forgotten by those we leave behind? I encourage you to, along with me, seek starting today to leave behind a name that will be well remembered for all the right reasons.
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