How will you measure your life?

I recently attended a memorial service where I had the privilege of witnessing friends and family share stories of faith, hope, and love. Here's how I experienced this answer.

How will you measure your life?

I recently attended a memorial service where I had the privilege of witnessing friends and family share stories of faith, hope, and love. I experienced the answer to this question. Here's what I experienced.

He passed away at the age of 29 after years of battling cancer. Story after story, people were talking about how he beautifully held the tension of his present determination to get better with his future hope from faith. People shared accounts of how his quiet introspection about the deepest questions of life while living out loud and bringing fun and joy to those around him. Most of all, people shared about how well he loved his wife, family, friends, and even strangers. It was irrational love by the world's standards especially considering his circumstances. You could sense that his love came from deep within, not of his own morality or effort, but from his faith. Until his last breath, he loved, he hoped, and he had faith.

There was one unexpected statement that was spoken about him that summarized his perspective: "He didn't lose the battle against cancer." You see, his future hope was clear. His perspective of the present was clear. The source of his life was clear.

How will you measure your life?

This was a question I read many years back and it has affected how I live and lead. It's been a journey trying to answer this question. It's a difficult question to answer because you don't get to see a good example of an answer very often. There's a gluttony of examples of people measuring their life with their wealth, their beauty, and their status, but this weekend I got to witness a measure that transcends these fleeting pursuits.

When I first tried answering this question, it went to pragmatic or tangible thoughts like "accomplish this" or "legacy that". I quickly realized the shallow nature of this line of thinking. Then I went to more philosophical ideas like "live fully" or "be faithful", but realized it was difficult to apply each day. And a few years ago, I got an answer that seems to work for the present and the future. And this memorial service reassured me of the answer.

Each person who shared a story about him had a name. They would introduce themselves by name as they shared stories about how he lived with faith, hope, and love. What if you measured your life by the list of individual names of the people you have deeply impacted? Who would you put on this list?

How will you measure your life?

For me, I will measure my life by how my wife feels loved, my kids inspired, and my friends sharpened.

This statement is founded on my faith, hope, and love of Jesus.

"Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love."
-1 Corinthians 13:13

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