On September
26, 2018, Ian Mohorn received a call from his girlfriend (who would
later become his wife). He could tell by her tone of voice that
something was wrong. She asked him to drive to her dorm to pick her up;
she spoke with a sense of urgency. Ian immediately went to her.
He was
thinking to himself, “What did I do?”
When he
arrived at her dorm, he saw his girlfriend. He could tell she had been
crying. He continued to wonder what he had done to upset her.
She got into
his car and handed her phone to him. When he looked at the phone
screen, he saw that it was his mother on the other end of the line.
Confused, he
put the phone to his ear. His mother had some distressing news: Ian’s
grandfather, Lloyd Sutton, had suddenly passed away from a heart
attack. Ian was shocked and became overwhelmed with grief.
“My granddad
was one of my best friends,” Ian explained. “Growing up, we spent a
great deal of time together fishing, watching baseball, and talking
about our faith.”
In the midst
of his shock and strong emotional response, Ian remembered that his
grandfather had posted something on Facebook earlier that day. He
looked it up. Ian’s grandfather had posted this statement:
“Your life’s
legacy will not be determined by the things you have accumulated, but by
how people remember you treated them.”
This was his
final post on Facebook; it was posted about 4 hours before he died.
“What a
powerful reminder of what matters,” Ian affirmed.
When Ian
shares this story today, he issues this challenge: “Value people rather
than things. If we do this, we can be confident in knowing that we have
left a lasting and impactful legacy.” *
What
matters? In the end, what matters most is our relationships, not
things.
Jesus was
once asked, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest
commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as
yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments”
(Matthew 22:34-40).
What matters
most is, first of all, your relationship with God. Sin separates us
from God, but God loves us so much that He gave His Son to die on the
cross for our sins so that we can be reconciled to Him (John 3:16;
Romans 5:8).
God will forgive, bring into His family, and give
eternal life to those who place their
faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31),
turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31),
confess Jesus
before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are
baptized (immersed) into Christ for the
forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). He will continue to cleanse from sin
those who continue to walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7-9).
After your
relationship with God, what matters most are your relationships with
other people. Remember Lloyd Sutton’s words: “Your life’s legacy will
not be determined by the things you have accumulated, but by how people
remember you treated them.” As Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as
yourself.”
Are you
focused on the things that matter most?
-- David A.
Sargent
* As
shared by Ian Mohorn, President and CEO of Dale Carnegie Training of the
Emerald Coast, and a member of the Regency Church of Christ in Mobile,
AL.
David A. Sargent,
Minister
Church of Christ at Creekwood
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
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