What will they say about me?

Because of our ministry,

my Lanny Love and I attend quite a few funerals.

I am always fascinated by how well

a person is reflected in the funeral service.

Now, I realize the pedestal upon which the dead are placed

can make them more saintly than they are,

but I have been to the funerals of people who had touched others

not for their betterment.

Pedestals are really not all that elevating

when it comes right down to it and

eulogies are pretty accurate in the end.

I often walk away from a funeral thinking,

"When my time comes,

I hope they say that about me!"

 

Recently, we attended the funeral of

someone my Lanny Love knew

but whom I had never met.

And more than ever before,

this funeral made me wonder

"What will they say about me?"

 

You see, when they were finished,

I felt her loss!

This woman I did not know,

        had never met,

                and I felt her loss!

Not just on behalf of the family,

        not just on behalf of her friends,

                not just on behalf of a world

                now less loving because she is not in it,

I felt a personal sense of loss!

I felt that my life would have been better

had she been a part of it,

and my life has been touched by her in her death.

 

It made me wonder.

Is my life is such that

a stranger might one day feel my loss?

Am I so godly a woman,

    so lovingly kind,

        so compassionate,

            so thoughtful,

                so good,

                    so joyful,

                        so patient,

                            so forgiving,

                                so gentle,

                                    so self-controlled

that one day a stranger might think about me,

"My life would have been better with her in it

and my life is changed because words of her

have touched it!"

So, what will people say about me

when I'm gone?

I think our eternity is pretty dependent 

upon the answer to that question

because our lives are generally

an accurate reflection of the Holy Spirit in us.

May I so closely follow Christ

that my eulogy

is a description of Him!

Whoever says that he lives in God must live as Jesus lived.

                                            ~~ I John 2:6 NCV ~~

 

So all of us who have had that veil removed 

can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. 

And the Lord - who is the Spirit - 

makes us more and more like him 

as we are changed into his glorious image.

                                                    ~~ 2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT ~~

 

But the fruit of the Spirit is 

love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, 

goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control... 

                                                ~~ Galations 5:22-23 ESV ~~