[the battle of inheritance]

[The Battle of Inheritance]

Written by: Eric Johnson

“We are not allowed to apologize for something that has been given to us for free.” ~ Anonymous

Something that fascinates me is how families with a long line of heritage function. There is a dynamic that takes place that is sometimes missed by the naked eye. It’s the pressure that is generated when the younger generation begins to get involved in what the older generation is doing. It occurs when the new generation is recognizing the inheritance they are receiving.

A transition takes place, and this pressure gives them an incredible opportunity. This pressure will cause them to find their own identity and reveal what that identity is. If their identity is healthy, they will prosper and increase upon the inheritance they have received. If their identity is on crutches, they will perform and/or demote themselves and actually sabotage their inheritance. Interestingly, many times people do this without even knowing what they are doing. They tend to do it in the name of humility.

A culture where individualism is glorified can, in more ways than we think, lead people to reject something that was already there--inheritance. Let’s take, for example, a family business, which the father and mother have built up successfully and for which they have hired numerous employees. Let’s say one of their employees is their son or daughter. This son or daughter will probably hear directly or get the feeling from other employees that the reason he/she has a job is that his/her dad and mom own the place. What that son or daughter does at this point is important. His or her reaction will show the state of his/her identity.

If he allows this pressure to move him to a place to “perform” and “prove” to others that he deserves this job by his own merit, he is possibly operating out of a poverty mindset. A poverty mindset will lead people to a place where they will naturally destroy something that may have been building momentum for generations, thus possibly causing this generation to go back to “square one.”

If he doesn’t turn to performance mode, he instead may walk away from an inheritance because he has believed the lie that he didn’t deserve it. So he feels the need to prove himself by doing it on his own to show others and himself that he is capable. This reaction can also possibly bring a generation back to square one.

These types of decisions form a pattern that causes years of plowing and sowing to be flushed away. It dramatically interferes with something that God set into motion from the beginning of mankind: that is to build upon what has been given to us for free, not just to build upon what we have worked so hard for.

A different effect takes place when someone works really hard and receives the fruit of his labor. It’s rewarding, and most say he deserved it because he worked hard for it. Then there is someone who receives an inheritance--something that he probably had nothing to do with. In other words, it isn’t the fruit of his own but of someone else’s labor.

It is important that we work really hard to create a culture and environment where this concept of inheritance is legal and healthy not just in theory but also in practice. The key is to understand that each one of us has an inheritance and to make sure that our identity is intact and that we are more concerned with what God thinks and says than what man thinks and says. When we do this, the pressure no longer controls what we do.

I believe one big reason there is such emphasis on having a healthy identity in the body of Christ isn’t just so we can be successful today but to prepare us so that when the momentum of history catches us, we can steward it correctly.

“We are not allowed to apologize for something that has been given to us for free.” ~ Anonymous