Tough Decisions

When you were a child, your parents supported you, using their money to make certain you were fed, educated, and cared for. No one expected anything else. But a time often comes when children have to care for ailing parents.

The apostle Paul’s day and age lacked our medical technology. Parents rarely lingered for years, kept alive by medications and medical paraphernalia. As a result, many of today’s tough moral and medical decisions weren’t part of first-century lives. Modern Christians can be tested with medical decisions that strain their faith and morals—and pocketbooks. With the blessings of a longer, healthier existence come questions about life and its value. How long and with what methods do we fight to extend life on earth? How can we obey God in these situations?

No one makes those decisions for us. Even the best medical and spiritual advice leaves us with difficult choices. And doctors often opt out of the moral issue altogether, leaving us confused and doubting.

Let’s remind ourselves how much our parents loved us and how much God loves them. With open hearts and the guidance of the Lord, we can make good choices. The scripture and the Spirit that guided Paul will direct us, too.