Excerpt Adapted From: The Financial Shepherd-
Why Dollars + Change = Sense by Glen Wright and Sy Pugh
Although we have touched on this subject in other chapters, we want to take a moment to expound on a particular verse: Proverbs 13:22 – “A good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children, but a sinner’s wealth is stored up for the righteous.” Proverbs 13:22a, provides an excellent example of a Financial Shepherd. What is clear about this verse is that the wise man leaves a legacy. More often than not though, that legacy does not involve the riches and wealth we tend to think about when we talk about an inheritance. Often the legacy comes in the form of wise counsel and seeds of faithfulness. As the children of Israel benefited from Abraham’s faithfulness, and Solomon benefited from David’s wise counsel, so too do we have to be prepared to leave an inheritance of righteousness. Most parents want to see their children become more successful than themselves, so they instill in them wisdom from their own life’s lessons and other intangible instructions for success. If you were provided with this type of legacy from your own parents, the wisest decision you can make is to work to ingrain the same teaching in your own children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and cousins. Truthfully, your children aren’t just those that were born to you or reared in your household, they include those that follow your instructions and those that are impacted by your decisions as well.
So, who inherits what you have been fortunate enough to leave behind? The preparation for an inheritance actually starts with the person that has the inheritance to leave. This preparation requires wise counsel as well. There are many examples in the Bible that show the oldest child being the recipient of the majority of the inheritance. Unfortunately, the oldest child may not always be prepared to receive an inheritance due to their own personal circumstances.
Recently we were involved with a family in which this was the case. The matriarch of the family passed away and none of her three adult children was in position to receive the inheritance. Though her assets were not great, she did have the foresight and guidance to elect a beneficiary that she could trust to oversee and execute her wishes as she had planned. The beneficiary happened to be her grandson. Although he was not her biological child, she sowed enough seeds of righteousness in him in advance to prepare him to properly receive and manage this inheritance.
An inheritance should be seen as another way to sow a seed of righteousness in someone’s life. Whether you sow through finances, offering services, kindness, gifts, or through prayer, this principal of sowing and reaping has a tremendous impact on the giver(s) as well as the receiver(s).
