I’ve been listening to a lot of people talking about legacy recently – specifically, how to pass on a legacy. So in today’s post, I’ll cover some of their major points, but I’d also like to dive into how to receive a legacy (hint: It’s not all about ego!)

When thinking about passing on a legacy – for example, passing a ministry to another generation or handing a business to someone else when you retire – here are a few things to consider:

1. Should this mission or business go beyond me? Or did it die 10 years ago and I haven’t noticed? Some things are made for a season – and there’s nothing wrong with that. When we try to push beyond what God has made the mission or business to be, it’s usually driven by wanting to maintain or enhance a name, an ego, or a position. (While I’m not endorsing this as a hard and fast rule, God told the Levites that they could only work until age 50, when they would step down and allow the younger Levites to do the work of the tabernacle (Numbers 8:24-25).)

2. Legacy doesn’t have to look like you – if you want the thing you pass on to look like you, that’s self-focused.

3. The people who can carry legacy well are unafraid to change and of change. They do not focus on fear, failure, and what is not happening as much as their feet are solidly on the ground.

4. Make your successor not part of the business but part of the family. They will fail if all they want is the logo and the ego. Legacy is not positions; they’re people – and God touches people, not positions.

5. When looking for a successor, look for people who know who they are, where they want to go, and aren’t scared of commitment (oh, and are you wishy-washy and step back from your commitments? Because you can’t pass that on).

6. You don’t have to choose people who are carbon copies of you – you want people who will be who God has called them to be even if that takes the ministry or business in slightly different directions.

7. Don’t look for people who just love you and will never be able to stand on their own feet (they can mimic you, they can make you feel good, but they can’t outlast you). Also, don’t bring in people who just want to “fix” you and use you for their own agenda.

8. Choose people who have gifts from God and who treat their gift as a calling from God.

9. Keep it simple. Don’t give your successors a list of rules. Just the absolute most vital things to avoid mission drift.

10. Remember, if God built your business or your ministry, He can and will sustain it – you don’t have to sustain it yourself.

When thinking about receiving a legacy, here are a few things to consider:

1. Receiving legacy is not about positions, logos, and egos. It’s about family, vision, and going after God.

2. Too many people come in to serve their leader, and when legacy begins to happen, they make rules and processes that don’t allow the leader to be the leader. The vision or style of leadership that makes the ministry work is replaced with whatever processes the assistants like and want – and it often kills the ministry or business. Don’t criticize a leader for being themselves. Instead, let the leader be the leader the way that God has them leading and being.

3. Dismiss being the smartest, most anointed, and most qualified from the equation. You are not chosen by God because of your anointing or gifting – He chooses the ones He wants to work through, and no, it’s not always fair.

4. Be clear and consistent about your own calling and vision – be in this to win, but only win God’s way.

5. Treat your giftings like callings – and then serve well. Don’t just toe a line or swoon over working for or being chosen by a leader. Serve as though for God, not to gain a position or prove your worth.

6. Stick with your commitments. Dashing from ministry to ministry or business to business as a better opportunity comes along isn’t a way to inherit a legacy because legacy comes through family.

7. Remember, success is not in numbers – success is defined by obedience in the kingdom.

8. Focus on what God is doing, not on the fear, the failure, and what is not happening or not working. The latter is one of the quickest ways to stray from where God is calling you. Keep your eyes on Him as well as not ignoring reality.

9. Consider carefully the DNA you want to carry into this new season of legacy. Every family gives a legacy of DNA to its descendants. Physically, you carry the DNA of your parents. But you also carry cultural and acquired DNA. Cultural DNA is the family culture – for example, speaking a certain way or certain practices (like doing your housecleaning every Saturday morning or handling conflict a certain way). Acquired DNA are practices that you chose for yourself, either influenced by your culture or by your own decisions – examples might include reading your Bible every day, always speaking to others with honor, or doing your finances on the first of each month. There is some overlap between cultural and acquired DNA; the biggest difference is that cultural DNA is something you do because it’s normal, while acquired DNA is something you have intentionally chosen to make part of you and how you do things. Consider carefully what DNA you want to take with you into this new season and into the ministry, and be very clear with the employees or supporters if you are going to make major changes.

10. Remember, being a leader is open-handed. You don’t own this thing; you only steward it.