Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

In Matthew 5:4, Jesus said, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."

Despite the assurance and comfort that Christians have regarding eternal life, physical death is still an inescapable fact of earthly existence. I take Christ's words to indicate that it is completely acceptable to God for a Christian to feel sorrow and to mourn at the death of another person, especially someone that the mourner has loved or been close to.

At the same time, however, Christians (both because of their faith, and for the sake of their own personal welfare) should also not allow themselves to be overwhelmed with such sorrow, or permit it to have a lasting or long-term negative effect on their daily lives, or on their relationship with God. Such a reaction would (in my opinion) turn their mourning into "worldly sorrow", since they would then be mourning as one who "had no hope", which Paul cautioned against (1 Thessalonians 4:13).

However, I would also not refer to their mourning as "godly sorrow" in the sense in which the Bible uses the term. This term appears only once in Scripture (2 Corinthians 7:10-11), and refers specifically to the sorrow of individuals over their past sins and conduct that leads them to turn to Christ for forgiveness and salvation. It is not related to mourning another person following the person's death.

May 11 2018 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report