Do Not Let Hate Become Your Legacy
Do not let hate be the ending of your story.
Do not let it become your legacy.
Through several of the posts on this site, I have talked about the choice we make every day.
We choose what we bring into the world.
Love or hate.
Kindness or bitterness.
Patience or harshness.
Mercy or resentment.
One way or another, we are spreading seeds.
And those seeds matter.
They matter because choices like this help determine which direction our homes, families, workplaces, churches, communities, and society begin to lean.
So try this.
As you go through your day, whether you are at work, at home, in a store, in a restaurant, or even at church, just observe what people are choosing to spread.
Are they spreading love?
Or are they spreading hate?
Are they planting kindness?
Or are they planting bitterness?
You may be surprised by what you notice when you simply sit back and observe.
Now consider this too.
Turn on the TV.
Turn on the radio.
Scroll through social media.
What kind of seeds are being spread there?
TV and music have a big influence on society. So does the internet. So does everything we keep feeding into our minds.
And in many shows, songs, posts, and comments, there is often an underlying message being planted.
Sometimes it is subtle.
And sometimes it is not good.
So many TV shows are full of stress, drama, conflict, revenge, pride, selfishness, and anger.
Have you ever stopped and thought about why?
Because to keep people watching, there has to be tension. There has to be conflict. There has to be stress. Then maybe there is some kind of resolution.
But after a while, when you start looking at life through the lens of what seeds are being spread, you may begin to see those things differently.
I know I have.
There are shows I used to enjoy that I do not enjoy the same way anymore.
Why?
Because I no longer want to keep feeding my mind with hateful things.
What I put into my mind is likely to come back out somewhere.
And that is worth thinking about.
Music is a little different because people often write songs about what they are feeling.
I loved country music as a kid. I liked all kinds of music, but country music was my favorite.
But over time, I started noticing how many songs were about the painful side of life and relationships.
Songs about cheating.
Broken hearts.
More cheating.
Pain.
Sorrow.
Did I mention cheating?
If not, let’s include that too.
And maybe add cheating to the list one more time, just to be safe.
Yes, there is a little sarcasm there.
But you know what I mean.
Some of those songs have great tunes. Your soul wants to sing along. But if you stop and listen to the message, you may realize the song is not really lifting your heart.
It may be giving a voice to pain.
And yes, pain is part of life.
Broken love is part of life.
Sorrow is part of life.
But we still have to ask ourselves:
What am I feeding?
Am I feeding love?
Or am I feeding bitterness?
Am I feeding healing?
Or am I feeding wounds that keep reopening?
The legacy of our society is not really something to brag about when we look at all the hate we see in the world today.
But let’s bring this closer to home.
Let’s talk about your legacy.
Are you spreading seeds of love?
Or seeds of hate?
Many people may think being slightly unkind is not really being hateful.
And maybe they are right in one sense.
But here is the problem:
It is not spreading love either.
So what kind of legacy are you leaving?
What would your family say?
Would they say your legacy is love?
Or would they say it is anger, criticism, coldness, and bitterness?
What about your friends?
What would they say?
What about your co-workers?
What about the waitress or waiter at the restaurant?
What about the person ringing up your groceries?
What kind of memory do you leave behind in the lives of others?
That question matters.
But in my opinion, the most important places to ask that question are the places where people see you most often.
First, your family.
Second, your co-workers.
Third, your friends.
Because those are the people who experience the real you most often.
When your time on this earth reaches its expiration date, what will your legacy be?
How will you be remembered?
I was at a funeral recently.
The man who had passed left an incredible legacy of love.
People talked about how much he would be missed. They talked about how loving and kind he was to everyone.
I never had the pleasure of meeting this man. I was there to support someone else who knew him.
But as I listened, I felt a strange kind of loss just from not having known him.
Why?
Because I love meeting people like that.
People who leave love behind.
People whose kindness continues to speak even after they are gone.
But while I was at that funeral, I also heard something else.
Something that disturbed me greatly.
It was said about another person who was attending.
Someone else I was there with.
The words were simple:
“Keep that man away from me.”
Think about that.
At the same funeral, I saw two very different legacies.
One man had passed away and left behind a memory of love, kindness, and deep respect.
Another man was still living, and yet someone’s response to him was:
Keep that man away from me.
That is sobering.
And it should be.
One man’s legacy was love.
The other man’s legacy was pain.
There is much more I could say, but I hear the old saying in my mind:
If you cannot say anything nice, perhaps you should not say anything at all.
So I will leave it there.
But the lesson is clear.
There are two people in that story.
A man whose legacy will be remembered with love.
And a man whose legacy will not.
So let me ask you:
What will people say about you when you are gone?
Will they talk about your kindness?
Will they remember your loving heart?
Will they say you made them feel seen, valued, respected, and loved?
Will there be tears because your presence will truly be missed?
Or will people quietly remember the trail of unkindness you left behind?
That is not an easy question.
But it is an important one.
And here is the good news:
If your story is not a good story at this point, you can change it.
You can change your story.
You have the power today to begin rewriting the ending.
Today, you can choose to spread seeds of love.
Today, you can choose kindness.
Today, you can choose patience.
Today, you can choose mercy.
Today, you can choose to change your legacy.
You may not be able to erase everything from the past.
But you can begin planting something better now.
You can begin becoming the kind of person others are thankful to have known.
You can begin leaving behind a different trail.
A trail of kindness.
A trail of love.
A trail of mercy.
A trail of people who are better because you crossed their path.
That is your choice.
So ask yourself:
What will my legacy be?
Will hate be the ending of your story?
Or will love?
Because hate spreads.
But love can spread too.
Stand up in the fight against hate. Choose to spread the luv!
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