End of Life Thoughts

As an EDS Mama, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about death.  There were times we were not sure if our daughter would pull through.  I could write an entire book on that emotional subject alone.  In order for me to continue to be a healthy person and be all that I need to be for my family, I have to address all areas of healing, so today my thoughts go beyond life with EDS and dysautonomia.  My own mother passed away six years ago from ovarian cancer.  I’ve had some dear friends pass on as well and it was hard to say goodbye to them.  A sweet, old man I befriended because I passed him sitting in a chair with his head down died this week.  My grandmother passed away a few days ago.  Death causes me to think about not only the life of the deceased, but also my own life.  Why is it that death sometimes brings to mind all the ways a person has hurt us?  And yet when I’m at the end of my life, I think I will be wishing I could undo the times I have caused injury and instead have more time to love deeply.  We are not so quick sometimes to extend forgiveness to those who have wronged us, but I can picture myself on my deathbed desperately wanting forgiveness to set me free.
 
Matthew 6:15 NIV says, “But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”  I believe Jesus meant this when He said it.  I do not want to test Him in this area.  I don’t want to get to the end of my life, thinking I was a child of the King only to be told, “You did not forgive others.  You yourself have not been forgiven either.”  Wow!  Wouldn’t that be a shock!  Philippians 3:13 NIV tells me, “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do:  Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.”  If I keep dwelling on the past of how someone has hurt me, I cannot move forward.  For me to be a healthy person, I have to be able to forgive, leave the past in the past, and live my life the way Christ would want me to.  Sometimes that means firm boundaries need to be established so that we can forgive but not continue to enable poor behavior from individuals.  Often, that means humbling ourselves, accepting people where they are at with all their shortcomings, and loving them anyway.  Is that not how you want others to treat you?

We do have some choice about what our end of life will be like.  I don’t want to be bitter and dying.  I’ve made a lot of mistakes.  Just like I have had to do with others, my own children, family, and friends will have to sift my life, forgiving the ways I’ve hurt them and remembering the good.  I want to model forgiveness for my children so that they will learn not to be held captive by anger and bitterness.  I want Christ to tell me I forgave others like He forgave me.  And boy, when I think about how much He has had to forgive me over and over and over (you get the idea), it helps me to be able to forgive as well.  In Luke 23, we get a picture of the enormity of the forgiveness Jesus extended when He prays to the Father, saying in verse 34, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” 

Jesus knows how hard it is for us to forgive, but through Christ we can be set free from the past!  In what areas are you harboring unforgiveness?  Is it with a family member?  Is it with an insensitive nurse or doctor?  Is it with your child who has made poor choices?  Is it with your spouse?  Is it that you cannot forgive yourself?   Jesus says to us in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”  Christ died to forgive it all!  Are you enjoying life to the full or are you unwilling to forgive and limiting Christ’s work in you?  Dear one, choose to forgive today.