Recipe for Life

It's that time of year again. Time to go through the old family recipes that were passed down by my mother and my grandmothers in preparation for our holiday feast. I have hundreds of recipes, some even dating back to my great-grandmother. It's impossible for me to make these ridiculously delicious dishes without having the recipe at hand. I have to follow them exactly as written in order to ensure the same tasty result. If I leave something out or decide to "do my own thing" and add an ingredient or two, the taste will be different. I have changed a couple of the recipes by adding an ingredient or leaving an ingredient out to make them taste even better.

The same is true of what I refer to as "recipes for life". Our individual lives are made up of lots of different ingredients, with different amounts of good and bad elements. Just like old family recipes, a lot of the components are passed down from one generation to the next. Each generation chooses to either keep the exact same recipe or to change it up a bit.

Changing the family "recipe for life" that is passed down through the years can have either positive or negative results for our children and grandchildren. With each new generation there can be many changes in the various aspects of our individual lives in comparison to the generation before. Some changes are good. Some changes are unavoidable. Some are tragic. In some families, there are ingredients that should be removed from the family "recipe for life" for the benefit and well being of future generations - immorality, abusiveness, and addiction, just to name a few. Some family recipes should have a few ingredients added, such as compassion, patience, better communication, selflessness, or stronger devotion to spiritual matters. The legacy of the past generation determines the propensity of the next generation to a very large degree. Each one of us has the opportunity to scratch off undesirable ingredients from our family "recipe" and to add more nourishing ingredients. We can change the makeup of our family "recipe for life" legacy for better or for worse.

Every single one of us, as individual family members, adds ingredients to or removes ingredients from the family "recipe". These changes are passed down to the next generation. Those future family members will have the choice to keep the same recipe for their children. The ingredients we add to or take away today will have an effect on our children and their children tomorrow. The choices we make, the things we do, the places we go, the things we say, the people with whom we keep company, our thoughts, our actions, our decisions, our beliefs - it all matters.

We can pass on a legacy of depression, bitterness, immorality, addiction, emotional or physical abuse, anger, selfishness, worldliness . . . or we can choose to leave a legacy of joy, hope, clean living, patience, love, and most importantly, faith in Jesus Christ and dependence on His Word. Our contributions to the family recipe will add either sweet flavor or gall. Poor choices on our part today spawn difficulties not only for us personally, but for family members, present and future. Our choices, actions, and beliefs affect others.

We each contribute different measurements of various ingredients to the making of our family recipe for life. That's just a fact. Mistakes or poor choices from past generations do not have to be repeated. We can take those ingredients out of the mix. Love for God and love for others are ingredients that should be written in the family recipe with unerasable ink, passed down from generation to generation. We all have the ability to change our individual family recipes for the better. We should continue using the necessary and helpful ingredients in the recipe that was handed down to us to pass down to the next generation, but we should each have the desire to change those that are harmful.

What will you add to or take from your family's "recipe"? Will it be helpful or harmful? The mixing bowl is in front of you, ingredients are on the table, the spoon is in your hand . . . . what is added or thrown in the garbage is up to you. Choose prayerfully and mix well.
Susan Trafford Martin
November 13, 2010