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Death and transition to the next life are very big deals in most cultures, including my Ghanaian culture. The ceremonies that mark this events are varied in length, splendour, size and detail.

The epitaphs are equally varied, but one that is popular with people who achieved some form of greatness, often in politics, business and other life endeavours is “A life well lived.”

The use of this expression is very subjective, often based on ones definition of what a well-lived life is.

In his book The Life Well Lived for example, Professor Jim Lucey focused on mental health, and outlined how a range of contemporary therapies can provide pathways to recovery from mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders and addiction recovery.

But what truly is a well-lived life? I realised when pondering this that it will always remain as diverse as the human race. I have however attempted to define what a well-lived life is in my opinion.

In my opinion, a well-lived life is a life lived at peace: Peace with self, peace with the environment, and peace with your Creator.

Peace with self simply means you are grateful for who you are – strengths, weaknesses, faults, setbacks, imperfections, mistakes and all.

As an unapologetic Christian, the Holy Scriptures tell me:

📌I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.📌

If I am fearfully and wonderfully made, then I need to be at peace with who I am.

Being at peace with my environment means being at peace with my living and non-living neighbours. My primary living neighbours are other human beings. The Holy Scriptures tell me:

📌 If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.📌

A cocktail of the “Golden Rule” (the principle of treating others as one wants to be treated), and the principle of “unconditional forgiveness” (seventy times seven times as Christ would advocate), go a long way in making us live in peace with our human neighbours.

Our other neighbours include our physical environment. The Holy Scriptures say:

📌 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.📌

Our environment is meant to help sustain us, and we must keep it well. The biologists call this relationship “symbiosis”.

Finally, we must have peace with our maker. The Holy Scriptures say:

📌 And through Christ, God has brought all things back to himself again—things on earth and things in heaven. God made peace through the blood of Christ’s death on the cross.(NCV)📌

The Creator always beckons us to peace. He sent His Son Jesus Christ to this world so we will have peace with Him.

A well-lived life is a life at peace with self, environment, and our Creator.

📍 Have a well-lived life in 2023 and beyond. I wish you peace.📍

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You can find this and many other uplifting articles at the Testimony Devotional website:
(www.mytd.org)
(www.testimonydevotional.org)