SEPTEMBER 13, 2025

  “The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone, but the things you do for others remain as your legacy.”

 ― Kalu Ndukwe Kalu

PROVERBS 23-24

30I went past the field of a sluggard,

past the vineyard of someone who has no sense;

31thorns had come up everywhere,

the ground was covered with weeds,

and the stone wall was in ruins.

32I applied my heart to what I observed

and learned a lesson from what I saw:

33A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to rest—

34and poverty will come on you like a thief

and scarcity like an armed man. (24:30-34)

2 CORINTHIANS 5

 20We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21God made him who had no sin to be sin^b for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

JOURNAL 

Kalu Ndukwe Kalu said that the things I do for myself will fade when I am gone, but the things I do for others will remain as my legacy. That perspective aligns with the calling in 2 Corinthians 5 to live as Christ’s ambassador. If my life is to carry eternal weight, it cannot be built on self-gratification or reacting to whatever feels good in the moment. It must be anchored in God’s voice and His truth, which outlasts both circumstances and fleeting emotions.

Proverbs 24 reminds me of the vineyard left in neglect, thorns creeping in, walls broken down, poverty following like a thief. Neglect is not always dramatic; sometimes it’s subtle, small choices of comfort over discipline, or choosing feelings over faith. A little slumber, a little indulgence, a little folding of the hands, and suddenly the wall of my life is in ruins. That is the danger of trusting my internal dialogue and desires as the compass of my choices.

To be “the righteousness of God” is to recognize that my life is not my own. Galatians 2:20 echoes this: I have been crucified with Christ, and the life I live now is lived by faith in Him. That means my reactions, my decisions, and my identity must be shaped not by how I feel, but by what God says. My emotions can serve as indicators, but they cannot be the drivers. Fear, anxiety, pride, or desire might rise up in a moment, but the Spirit gives me the ability to pause, to stand apart from those impulses, and to filter them through the wisdom of Scripture and prayer.

This is hard work...daily, even hourly work. It feels easier to just react, to trust what seems right in the moment. But Proverbs warns me that the way that seems right often leads to destruction. True wisdom is stopping long enough to ask: “Does this align with God’s truth? Is this what His Spirit is nudging me toward?” That pause...choosing to step out of my own head and into His presence is what guards me from collapse and keeps me walking as His ambassador.

Living this way is my surrender, my declaration that I am no longer my own. If my life is to bear fruit, if my legacy is to be more than thorns and ruin, then I must daily choose His voice over mine. That is how I live as His righteousness, and that is how I leave behind something eternal.

 20I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

GALATIANS 2:20