When the founders gathered in Philadelphia in the summer of 1776, they knew they were writing for an audience they would never meet. The documents they signed, the institutions they designed, and the sacrifices they made weren’t for themselves. Instead, these things were done to benefit generations that would come after.

As America marks 250 years of independence, that founding intentionality is worth pausing to consider as a model for how we think about our own legacies.

Building Something That Outlasts You

Proverbs 13:22 tells us, “A good person leaves an inheritance for their children’s children.” (NIV) The founders understood this instinctively. They weren’t building a nation for their own comfort and convenience. Instead, they were making long-term investments in governance, law, and shared values, knowing the fruit wouldn’t be fully realized in their lifetimes.

That’s the same spirit behind thoughtful estate planning and generational wealth transfer. When you take time to write a will, establish a trust, or document your financial wishes, you’re doing what the founders did: making decisions today that will shape outcomes for people you may never know. You’re leaving something behind that matters.

Legacy, of course, isn’t only about money. The founders passed down ideas about liberty and national responsibility. In the same way, the most enduring inheritance families can leave includes values, faith, and a vision for how to live well. 

Freedom Comes With Responsibility

The American experiment was built on the radical idea that free people, accountable to God and one another, could govern themselves wisely. Liberty wasn’t meant to be license to act however we wanted. Instead, the founders paired liberty with responsibility to family, community, and future generations.

Biblical stewardship operates on the same principle. In Luke 12:48, Jesus says, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded.” (NIV) Financial freedom—the ability to choose how we give, save, spend, and invest—carries real accountability. The question isn’t just what can do with what we’ve been given. It’s what you should we do.

As Americans, we’ve inherited an extraordinary amount―freedoms, economic opportunity, abundant resources, and the ability to build wealth in ways that are rare throughout history. As Christians, we believe these blessings come with a calling to steward our inheritance faithfully, deploy it purposefully, and pass it on generously.

Gratitude for What We’ve Been Given

Two hundred and fifty years is a long time. And across those years, the United States has seen remarkable abundance. None of it happened by accident. For believers, it’s not hard to see God’s hand of providence at work.

What we've inherited should inspire gratitude and faithful stewardship, not a sense of entitlement or complacency. Our founders built a free, God-fearing nation and entrusted it to us. Psalm 24:1 reminds us that “the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” (NIV) That includes the prosperity we enjoy as individuals and as a nation.

Gratitude also has a natural next step: action. When we recognize what we’ve been given, it becomes harder to take it for granted and easier to steward it intentionally.

Your Legacy Starts Now

The founders didn’t wait for perfect conditions to start building. They worked with what they had, made the best decisions they could, and trusted that the work would outlast them. That’s an example worth following.

If you haven’t reviewed your estate plan recently (or ever), this Independence Day is a good place to start. Consider these questions as you’re looking at your plan:

• What values do I want to pass on alongside my financial assets?
• Have I documented my wishes clearly enough that my family won’t have to guess?
• Am I using what I’ve been given in a way that reflects my faith and serves others?

You don’t have to have everything figured out to take the next step. The founders certainly didn’t. But they were intentional, and that intentionality changed the world.

In another 250 years, someone will be living with the results of the decisions you make today. That’s a sobering thought, but it’s also an encouraging one. What will you do today to make sure your legacy lives on long after you’re gone?