After my father passed away, the settling of his estate was a blur of spreadsheets, probate courts, and tax filings. I walked away with a modest stock portfolio, which was helpful, but then I found the manila envelope. Tucked behind a file labeled "Insurance," it contained a handwritten letter that held more wealth than his Vanguard account ever could. It was his Spiritual Will - an ethical will designed not to distribute his valuables, but to transfer his values. In my twenty years as an estate planner and writer, I have seen families torn apart by money, yet I have seen them knit together by words like these. We obsess over the "what" of our lives - the real estate, the jewelry, the 401(k) balances - yet we often ignore the "why." If you leave your children a million dollars but fail to leave them the convictions that helped you earn and steward it, you leave them rich in pocket but dangerously poor in spirit. A Spiritual Will is a heartfelt transmission of the soul; it articulates the "True North" that kept you grounded when life tried to knock you off course. It ensures that the stories of God’s faithfulness aren't buried in the casket with you. Practical Takeaway: Don't wait for a terminal diagnosis. Set aside one hour this Sunday. Grab a pen - not a keyboard - and answer this single prompt: “What is one mistake I made that taught me more about God's grace than all my successes combined?”
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