Why do Christians grieve?

[Suhar]

[SIZE=medium]Why do Christians grieve? [/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium] Why do Christians grieve death of another Christian? I do not understand it. We should celebrate instead! To grieve is to not believe a promise of God! Promise of life everlasting in His presence! Why grieve? Death is not the end, it is the beginning! This life in merely a first step (I am not talking re-incarnation here) of an eternal life. As with all first steps most difficult it maybe but it is only a first step. Like a vapor appearing for short time (James 4:14).[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium] David, the man after God’s heart (Acts 13:22) grieved his dying son asking God to spare his life but when son died he stopped grieving (2 Samuel 17-23). Whose heart are you after when you cry and grieve about your Christian friend or relative?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium] Do you miss your Christian friend or relative? How selfish of you! Your friend or relative is now in the presence of God Himself! Best state of being one can experience and you want him/her to stay on this miserable Earth instead just to keep you company?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium] Leave fear of death and grieving to those who do not believe in God and His promises! Leave it those who live for this life and die into condemnation. Leave it to those who hate you, to those who hate your God. Leave it to those who know no Son leave it to those who live in darkness.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium] Am I heartless to say what I said or have no compassion? I carried coffin of my grandfather with my cousins. He died in Christ after an incredibly difficult life of a Soviet man who survived through an entire WWII (only 3% of Soviet males of his birth year did) and decades of struggles and prosecutions for being a Christian in USSR. After life like that he finally got to “check out” and go to be with a Lord! Now, why in the right mind would I shed a tear about that? Out of probably 15 or so of his descendants in the room nobody did. We just sang a few hymns and gave his body to the ground. It is not that we are better then anybody but at least that time we did it right.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium] Do not grieve! Celebrate instead![/SIZE]

 

[This Vale Of Tears]

Biblically we're advised not to grieve as the world grieves for we look forward to the resurrection of the just, but to celebrate?

Why not both? But to make one's death a festive event is to ignore the pain of the bereaved who mourn their loss. If the epistle to the Romans tells us to "rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep", there are two things made very evident, one is that we are to share with one another whether it be grief or it be joy and the other is that there will be weeping.

Your whole post comes across as some sort of naïve criticism that can only leave one to conclude you've never experienced any real loss in your life. "Do you miss your Christian friend or relative? How selfish of you!" (your words) are utterly uncalled for and insensitive. I have friends who lost a 7 year old daughter to cancer and they miss her terribly. Am I to tell them they're being selfish?

If in the good grace of God there is actually somebody so close to you that when you lose them it will tear your heart out with pain then you'll regret writing such a foolish, ignorant post.

 

[Madad21]

[SIZE=medium]Why do Christians grieve? [/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium] Why do Christians grieve death of another Christian? I do not understand it. We should celebrate instead! To grieve is to not believe a promise of God! Promise of life everlasting in His presence! Why grieve? Death is not the end, it is the beginning! This life in merely a first step (I am not talking re-incarnation here) of an eternal life. As with all first steps most difficult it maybe but it is only a first step. Like a vapor appearing for short time (James 4:14).[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium] David, the man after God’s heart (Acts 13:22) grieved his dying son asking God to spare his life but when son died he stopped grieving (2 Samuel 17-23). Whose heart are you after when you cry and grieve about your Christian friend or relative?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium] Do you miss your Christian friend or relative? How selfish of you! Your friend or relative is now in the presence of God Himself! Best state of being one can experience and you want him/her to stay on this miserable Earth instead just to keep you company?[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium] Leave fear of death and grieving to those who do not believe in God and His promises! Leave it those who live for this life and die into condemnation. Leave it to those who hate you, to those who hate your God. Leave it to those who know no Son leave it to those who live in darkness.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium] Am I heartless to say what I said or have no compassion? I carried coffin of my grandfather with my cousins. He died in Christ after an incredibly difficult life of a Soviet man who survived through an entire WWII (only 3% of Soviet males of his birth year did) and decades of struggles and prosecutions for being a Christian in USSR. After life like that he finally got to “check out” and go to be with a Lord! Now, why in the right mind would I shed a tear about that? Out of probably 15 or so of his descendants in the room nobody did. We just sang a few hymns and gave his body to the ground. It is not that we are better then anybody but at least that time we did it right.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=medium] Do not grieve! Celebrate instead![/SIZE]

Heya man excited to see ya again!!

I lost a dear brother lately to cancer, it ravaged his body and he left behind 3 young teens and a loving wife. He was a best mate to me, one of few I could really talk too. We all grieved his passing.

Although Paul says "To live is Christ and to die is gain" (Phil 1:21) and although its certainly true that passed on brothers and sisters have run the race. We must also acknowledge our current human predicament, that grief symbolic of our desperate need of a savior, luckly we have one who is not unfamiliar with sorrows. "Jesus wept" (Jn 11:35) when he arrived at His mates funeral, because He saw the devastation of a people lost to the ravages of sin the desperation of our disposition is palpable and cuts deep in to even the very heart of a God who with just a word can raise the dead.
We are all witness to the cost, and we all need to grieve the consequences to truly appreciate the price thats been paid.

Good to have ya back!!

 

[Suhar]

Biblically we're advised not to grieve as the world grieves for we look forward to the resurrection of the just, but to celebrate?

Why not both?

Your whole post comes across as some sort of naïve criticism that can only leave one to conclude you've never experienced any real loss in your life.
If in the good grace of God there is actually somebody so close to you that when you lose them it will tear your heart out with pain then you'll regret writing such a foolish, ignorant post.

Why not?

I do not see how both can be done at the same time but some people are capable of things that do not appear to be possible.

Now you wishing that somebody close to me dies so that I find out how much it hurts? Wow! Somebody with a mind that messed up is telling me that I am naïve? Coming from you it is a compliment!

 

[This Vale Of Tears]

Why not?

I do not see how both can be done at the same time but some people are capable of things that do not appear to be possible.

Now you wishing that somebody close to me dies so that I find out how much it hurts? Wow! Somebody with a mind that messed up is telling me that I am naïve? Coming from you it is a compliment!

You have a serious reading comprehension problem, a sign of low intelligence. No intelligent person would read what I wrote that way. Perhaps this isn't your thing, mixing it up with real academics. Perhaps you need another hobby.

 

[Angelina]

I believe that God made us that way. Even Paul struggled with the idea of losing a fellow brethren. JMHO

Philippians 2
25 Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and the one who ministered to my need; 26 since he was longing for you all, and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick.
27 For indeed he was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 Therefore I sent him the more eagerly, that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less sorrowful. 29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such men in esteem; 30 because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service toward me.

 

[Suhar]

I believe that God made us that way. Even Paul struggled with the idea of losing a fellow brethren. JMHO

Philippians 2
25 Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and the one who ministered to my need; 26 since he was longing for you all, and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick.
27 For indeed he was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 Therefore I sent him the more eagerly, that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less sorrowful. 29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such men in esteem; 30 because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service toward me.

I hate to disagree but I do not see why God would create us in the way that would make us doubt His promise of life everlasting. It maybe part of out fallen nature though.

You have a serious reading comprehension problem, a sign of low intelligence. No intelligent person would read what I wrote that way. Perhaps this isn't your thing, mixing it up with real academics. Perhaps you need another hobby.

OK mister "real academic". Talking down to others that blatantly is a sign of serious problem with pride and pride is the foundation of all sin.

 

[Angelina]

I think it's because we love life. We will struggle to stay here even though we know what's waiting for us on the other side and because we don't want to leave our loved one's behind. As someone who has lost a loved one - When my dad past away 12 years back...I missed him very much and still do today. It's not really the same grief of not seeing him again. It's more like missing his essence. His presence in my life here on earth. I miss his smiling face and bluest of blue eyes. His quirky sense of humor and his strong sense of right and wrong. Looking forward to seeing him again some day. :)

 

[Suhar]

I think it's because we love life. We will struggle to stay here even though we know what's waiting for us on the other side and because we don't want to leave our loved one's behind. As someone who has lost a loved one - When my dad past away 12 years back...I missed him very much and still do today. It's not really the same grief of not seeing him again. It's more like missing his essence. His presence in my life here on earth. I miss his smiling face and bluest of blue eyes. His quirky sense of humor and his strong sense of right and wrong. Looking forward to seeing him again though. :)

Yeah, that is something I cannot relate to. Never had much of a father. I loved my grandfather (my mother's father) but felt no grief at his funeral. None. I actually felt happy for him. After incredibly difficult life he lived he finally got his reward. Do I miss him? No (heartless me). I will see him again soon so why do I need to miss him?

 

[This Vale Of Tears]

Yeah, that is something I cannot relate to. Never had much of a father. I loved my grandfather (my mother's father) but felt no grief at his funeral. None. I actually felt happy for him. After incredibly difficult life he lived he finally got his reward. Do I miss him? No (heartless me). I will see him again soon so why do I need to miss him?

You were never close to him, that much is clear.

 

[Suhar]

You were never close to him, that much is clear.

As a "real academic" you should know that talking to somebody of such "low intelligence" as me makes you look really bad. Yet you go on.
Before men fell they would not die, they would live forever, right? If people were meant to live forever originally then how grieving over dead could be part of original human nature? The way I see it only fallen human nature makes us grieve over dead.

 

[lforrest]

WWJD?

John 11:35-36
35Jesus wept.
36Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

 

[Dan57]

WWJD?

John 11:35-36
35Jesus wept.
36Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

I've never believed Jesus wept for Lazarus, but for the unbelievers.(John 11). I also think that unbelief caused Jesus grief, and lost souls should also grieve us (Matthew 23:37).

 

[lforrest]

I don't think his grief was due to unbelief because Martha didn't express that in John 11, Martha was prepared to believe that he would raise Lazarus from the dead. I could however be wrong about what moved him to weep, commentaries give a number of reasons.

I do have to consider that if Jesus didn't experience grief he would be poorly equipped to help us with ours. I consider the absence of Joseph during Jesus' ministry, Jesus must have let him die.

 

[Madad21]

I thought madads reply was pretty good, rumor has it that he's incredibly good looking as well.

 

[lforrest]

Oops totally skimmed past that part of your post.

 

[Angelina]

Suhar

Yeah, that is something I cannot relate to. Never had much of a father. I loved my grandfather (my mother's father) but felt no grief at his funeral. None. I actually felt happy for him. After incredibly difficult life he lived he finally got his reward. Do I miss him? No (heartless me). I will see him again soon so why do I need to miss him?

Your grandfather sounds like an awesome man of God, He was at the end of "Fighting the good fight of faith and finishing the race" and I'm sure his family were relieved that while absent from his body, he is present with the Lord. :)
There are so many who haven't even began their walk with Christ yet and some who will be dearly missed like an only child to aging parents.... h34r:

 

[This Vale Of Tears]

Suhar



Your grandfather sounds like an awesome man of God, He was at the end of "Fighting the good fight of faith and finishing the race" and I'm sure his family were relieved that while absent from his body, he is present with the Lord. :)
There are so many who haven't even began their walk with Christ yet and some who will be dearly missed like an only child to aging parents.... h34r:

It's also easier to get over the death of an elderly person when it's expected, quite another to lose somebody tragically in the prime of their life like a spouse or at the beginning of life like a child. When somebody dies of cancer and it's a lingering battle, relief and even joy can ensue when the battle is over and the person is at rest. This is why David stopped grieving when sickness finally killed his son.

I just can't get somebody so sheltered, so naïve, and so inexperienced at life as to say "Do you miss your Christian friend or relative? How selfish of you!" It's hard to take such a person seriously on this topic or any other.

 

[Angelina]

When we have never experienced any of these things....it is hard to place yourself in someone else's shoes. Also...sometimes people do not want to experience such emotions because it makes them feel vulnerable. Yet Jesus himself was found to be vulnerable at the hands of his persecutors when facing his greatest challenge ~ the cross. Matthew 27:46. Go easy on him...he's still in that sanctification process like we all are...