Some preachers are not known to tell the truth, whether in their sermons or at the funerals of those who have died. If the deceased showed any remorse for their sinful life before dying, or mentioned that they loved the Lord, that would be enough for some preachers to believe that the person will go to heaven. Often beautiful eulogies can be heard that do not seem to fit the person eulogized. How would you feel if the whole truth was told about you at your funeral? What if you wrote your own eulogy to be read? The following are some suggestions of statements that could be made. Put your name on each blank and underline the statement that would be truthful about you.
- (__) was a faithful Christian; or … was a good person but never obeyed the gospel, and therefore was never saved and added to the church.
- (__) was a faithful member of the Tara Church of Christ; or … was a member, but did not attend the assemblies faithfully, nor was he really supportive of church activities.
- (__)’s family knew him as a man of prayer and devotion to God; or … his children never heard him pray, or saw any act of devotion to God.
- (__) showed great interest in the lost and encouraged missionary efforts; or … showed no interest in reaching the lost, nor supporting mission efforts.
- (__) was a true friend who would go out of his way to help anyone in need; or … always appeared self-centered and had very few friends.
- (__) would always find something good to say about others he knew; or … was negative about others and often gossiped about their shortcomings.
- (__) was a good Bible student, always reading the scriptures and attending classes to learn more; or … seldom studied the Bible personally and would not go to Bible classes, gospel meetings, etc.
- (__)’s family hated to see him leave and rejoiced when he came home; or … family hated it when he came home and rejoiced when he left.
- (__) was an example of honesty, integrity, humility, dependability, and love; or … lacked each of these.
- (__) was an asset to the church, his family, the community, and to the Lord’s work; or … was a burden to each of these.
- (__) fought a good fight, finished his course, and kept the faith; or … failed to do each of these.
- (__) lived with the hope of everlasting life; or … sincerely questioned his salvation and feared to die because of it.
Of course, no preacher would say such negative things about someone who had died. Normally, if nothing positive and good can be said, most will say very little about the deceased, and just try to comfort the family in their loss. However, each of us is preaching our own funeral by the life we live before others. God will be our judge, so it does not matter what is said about our life at the funeral. People know how we have lived, and even more importantly, God knows. We see both the negative and the positive, and so does He.
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