How to Leave a Family Legacy for Generations—and Eternity

From the humblest of beginnings to the CEO of Hobby Lobby, David Green’s story is inspiring not for his business success but for the true legacy he is building—the biblical family legacy that will echo for generations to come. David’s heart is to show all of us how we can trust God to use our everyday faithfulness to make a difference for eternity. It’s a joy to welcome him to the farm table to share today…

Guest Post by David Green

When I was growing up, my dad was a pastor in a denomination that moved their pastors every two years.

I sometimes joke that the denomination must have thought that a pastor would run out of sermons every two years, so they had to move on.

Nonetheless, when the time came, we’d pull out the boxes again.

Our clothes, our shoes, our meager possessions— such as they were— all packed again.

My parents never owned a car, so that meant we’d have to have someone help us move. I remember one old cotton truck that we managed to put a sofa at the front of. All of us kids piled on that sofa, and it was great fun.

Until it started raining.

Our homes weren’t ones we selected. Instead, it was the next parsonage, often a two-bedroom home, and some of us kids had to sleep in the living room to make it all work.

Finances were tight.

On the rare occasion when someone donated a chicken for our family dinner, we had to make that chicken stretch to feed eight people. This meant that my dad had to eat the neck of the chicken. And, well, there’s not a lot of meat on the neck.

“It’s a good thing for us to not see all the way to the end. We remain faithful not knowing what the future holds. That’s what faith is.“

Those vagabond ways do something to you.

Our schools were temporary. Our teachers were temporary. Our friends were temporary. Our congregations were temporary. It was as if everyone played the game with us, but everyone knew we’d soon be moving on.

I was already pretty shy, so these temporary stops didn’t help much. It might have been something that could have created bitterness inside of my young soul.

But no matter how many times my boxes were packed and unpacked, no matter how many dusty towns we rolled into, no matter how small the parsonage, no matter how scant the offerings, our family just kept plugging away.

Let’s be honest. It probably would have been easier for my dad to quit the pastoring life and just go get a job. He could have stayed in one place and had an easier time supporting his family. Looking back now, I suspect that it was hard for my parents to watch their children—our family—survive on meager rations. We took government help, which in those days we called commodities—things like powdered milk, potato flakes, and canned butter. It was the only way to make things work.

Why struggle like this?

“The beauty of living faithfully right now is that we can trust the results to God... God is in the results business. Our business should be in faithfulness.“

The Call to Faithfulness

Looking back with the benefit of my eighty-plus years and a generational lens, I can see it so much more clearly now.

My mom and dad were faithful with what God put in front of them. That’s all they wanted: to be faithful with their marriage, their children, their church, the parsonage, the people in their congregations.

I think another part of the message here is that God is okay with us being uncomfortable. It’s okay to have some struggle along the way. It’s a good thing for us to not see all the way to the end. We remain faithful not knowing what the future holds. That’s what faith is.

The beauty of living faithfully right now is that we can trust the results to God.

We do not and cannot know what He’ll do in future generations. God is in the results business. Our business should be in faithfulness.

As you read these words, I hope that you hear this simple yet challenging call: Be faithful right where you are at. Be faithful with whatever God has put in your hands.

” I hope that you hear this simple yet challenging call: Be faithful right where you are at. Be faithful with whatever God has put in your hands.”

Even if you are an exile away from your home, like Daniel in Babylon.

Even if you are without a car. Without your own house.

With less financial means than you’d like.

Even if it seems like you get moved around by the choosing of others.

Even if you have a lot.

Just be faithful with whatever your circumstances are. My mom stepped into the faith of her dad. I stepped into the faith that I saw in them. My children stepped into the same faith they saw in us. Now there are grandchildren and great-grandchildren living out that same faith. That’s six generations.

While we are not at five hundred years yet, my plan is to remain faithful as the first step. It reminds me of Hebrews 11, the Hall of Fame of faith. There we are reminded of the great struggles of those we might call our heroes with the plain and simple notation: “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect” (vv. 39–40).

That’s living with a generational lens. That’s living to make a difference for eternity.

Are you ready to follow that call?

David Green is the founder and CEO of Hobby Lobby, which employs 50,000 people at 1,000 stores in 48 states and grosses nearly $8 billion a year. Author of Leadership Not by the Book and The Leader’s Devotional, Green received the World Changer award and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. David, his wife, Barbara, and their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren all live in Oklahoma City.

Bill High is CEO of Legacy Stone and the author or coauthor of several books, including Leadership Not by the Book. Bill lives with his wife, Brooke, in the Kansas City area.

In The Legacy Life: Leading Your Family to Make a Difference for Eternity, they call us to reject the current work-hard-then-retire mindset and embrace a biblical view of ourselves and our families—a generational mindset. With a paradigm-changing perspective, this book can help you develop a legacy perspective on your life and family, articulate and live out your mission and values, recover from failures and celebrate successes, and tell your stories from generation to generation. Your family is part of a story that matters for eternity!

To learn more about the book and other resources to help your family thrive, visit LegacyStone.com/LegacyLife.

{Our humble thanks to Baker Books for their partnership in today’s devotional.}