How Will You be Remembered?
Last week, three people died who all impacted my life in a positive way. I am thankful to say that none of these three people ever did or said anything that impacted my life in a negative way. I can’t say that about everyone I know, even concerning brothers and sisters in Christ. So I feel very blessed by these three friends that I have lost. I believe all three of them will always be considered by me to be caring, serving, compassionate, and genuinely good. They will be remembered this way because their lives were mostly about other people.
How will you be remembered? I have often heard it said that what people truly remember about you is how you made them feel. I believe this to be a correct statement. So maybe the first thing we should ask about ourselves is how do other people feel about us? If there is anything we can do or change about ourselves to lend to this answer being more positive, we should probably get to it.
In Acts 9 we read of a woman from Joppa named Dorcas (or Tabitha) who had endeared herself to the people of her city by the service she rendered. When she passed away people were devastated. As they called for Peter who was nearby, in their pleas for his assistance they showed him tearfully the clothes this woman had made for each one of them with her hands. Peter responded by the power of God and immediately raised Dorcas from the dead. The text says as the news of this miracle spread, “many people believed in the Lord” (Acts 9:42).
There is a reason the Holy Spirit inspired Luke to record this event. The most important reason is obviously our need to believe in God and be a part of His church. But there are some underlying lessons in the details of the account. One is that we don’t have to be a famous person to change the world. Dorcas was a simple and humble woman who loved people and made a difference simply by working with her hands. Another lesson is that the little things we do every day that display love for the people in our lives are what people will remember. I think when the people of Joppa looked at the clothes Dorcas had made, they saw something that she didn’t have to do, but had chosen. She made other people feel important by spending her time doing something for somebody else.
When I contemplate how I want to be remembered, I humbly pause with the realization that if I am even remembered at all it will only by the people who I once knew. When their lives are over I will be forgotten and the people who will be living on the earth after them will know nothing about me at all and not care. We are all here to make a mark among the people to which we have been appointed. I look back at the three people I lost this week and I thank God for his providence. He chose that I would live among these three people who I will never forget for the rest of my life. They were good to me I am a better person because of them. They were kind and serving and I have been the recipient of the love of God through them. I am blessed!
If there is anything I can learn by losing a friend it is that I want to be a better friend myself. And as much as I am sad that three of my friends have left me I can’t help but thank God for the fact that when I think about them I will always smile on the inside. They were wonderful. They will always be remembered as wonderful to me. They emulated in their lives the spirit of Christ.
And that is something that just doesn’t happen by accident.
How will you be remembered?
“I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful…” (2 Samuel 1:26)
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AUTHOR: Jeremiah Tatum
