Writing Your Eulogy As An Intentional Way to Shape the Life You Want to Live & The Legacy You Want To Leave Behind

"Death no longer has dominion over Him.…the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise, you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God…" — Paul, the Apostle, Romans 6:9-11 

We only live one life. And, we're all going to die.

And often, and for many seasons, we go through this life reactively.

But what if instead, we had a clear picture of the end?

What if we intentionally painted a picture of what this life of ours looked like, or at least the impact it made?

In May 2020, I wrote the eulogy at the end of this post for myself. It was a few months after I published my inspirational essay about the early church on Relevant Magazine (an article that's included at the beginning of my upcoming book about Jesus' passion).

I wrote this eulogy several weeks into the pandemic and, unknowingly, two weeks before George Floyd was murdered.

In retrospect, four years later, it's interesting timing, but also a North Star to direct how I would live my life during a tough year for our country. Soon after, we'd face nationwide unrest and eventually an insurrection after the 2020 election.

Clarifying the ending at the beginning, or at least at some point along the way, ensures the events we live out and the stories we tell about them line up with the vision and values we hold dear. Otherwise, we can easily become the monsters we fight against.

In 2020, this is what that vision and those values looked like for me. If you've never taken the time to write a eulogy, spend some time writing something out. Future you and those impacted by you will thank you for it.

Anyway, here you go, a glimpse into my vision for this life... from 2020...

"Jason, a lover of Jesus, people, stories and systems, helped me thrive after a season of brokenness.

When I was in survival mode and isolated, he reached out.

Jason helped me to see the chaos around me, and move out of crisis towards community, found in the loving trinity of God through Jesus. 

Where I was sucked into my feelings of depression, doubt, and despair it was Jason who helped me see the light, and was quick to encourage me towards the source of life.

His model of giving life overflowed into his marriage, his family and his community.

He embraced values of love towards God and others, mastery of his work, openness to people and ideas, dependability with his responsibilities, and mindfulness with others.

Where he experienced great trouble and suffering along his own journey, he humbled himself and allowed God to lead the way while also embracing the help offered by others.

His journey of transformation and demonstration of love gave me a glimpse of God and heaven and that spark was what I needed to passionately pursue Jesus myself.

I'm motivated to share the life of Jesus because of the generosity of Jason (among many others) who met me in my state of survival and isolation and guided me towards my loving heavenly father."

P.S. If this has activated you to take a step forward in intentionally writing your eulogy, check out the following episode of the Share Life podcast, where we explore the idea of choosing the story we want to write and legacy we want to leave behind. The episode took place in the midst of the 2020 societal chaos, but the insights are just as relevant today as they were then.