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There are various ways in which we can make known the instructions for
our final moments in this life; one such instrument is called a Living Will.
Below is a sample of a Living Will that might be helpful to you as you make
your own personal decisions about this very personal matter. Two thinks to
consider. First of all this is only a sample and you should consult a
professional for advice in such matters. Also and equally important is that
you can always add your Christian perspective to such instruments as Living
Wills. This sample gives some examples that should help give you some ideas
about how you can create your “Christian Living Will.”
LIVING WILL of ________________________
My Advance Directives Concerning the End of my Physical Life
DECLARATION made this _____ day of __________, 200__.
I, __________________, of ________________, City of Cheyenne, County of
Laramie, State of Wyoming, being of sound mind and memory, willfully and
voluntarily make known my desire that my dying shall not be artificially
prolonged under the circumstances set forth below, do hereby declare:
I believe in the Biblical dignity and sanctity of life and that to take a
life unlawfully or to impose active euthanasia is murder. (Genesis 9:6,
"Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the
image of God has God made man.)
I believe that God sometimes chooses to intervene with miraculously healing
no matter how desperate the apparent physical condition might appear. (2
Kings 20:5-6, "Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people, 'This is
what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer
and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go
up to the temple of the LORD. I will add fifteen years to your life; John
11:4, When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death.
No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it.")
I believe that God has an appointed time for each person’s separation from
this life, just as He had an appointed a time for Christ’s death.
(Ecclesiastes 3:1-2, There is a time for everything, and a season for every
activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die; 2 Kings 13:14,
When Elisha became sick with the illness of which he was to die (NAS); Luke
12:25, Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life; Job 1:21,
Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave
and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised; John
12:23-24, Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be
glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the
ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces
many seeds.)
I believe death is not to be feared but that it can be a wondrously
beautiful and gracious event for the one who has trusted in Christ alone for
their salvation and long to be with their Savior in eternity. (Eccl 3:11, He
has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the
hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to
end. Hebrews 2:14-15, Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared
in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the
power of death — that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were
held in slavery by their fear of death; 2 Corinthians 5:8, We are confident,
I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.)
Therefore I make the following declarations wanting to please the Lord even
in my death. (John 5:30 …I seek not to please myself but him who sent me; ;
Romans 14:7-8, For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to
himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the
Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord; John 21:19, Jesus
said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God)
1. If at any time I should have an incurable injury, disease or other
illness certified to be a terminal condition by two (2) physicians who have
personally examined me, one (1) of whom shall be my attending physician, and
the physicians have determined that my death will occur whether or not
life-sustaining procedures are utilized and where the application of
life-sustaining procedures would serve only to artificially prolong the
dying process, I direct that such procedures be withheld or withdrawn, and
that I be permitted to die naturally with only the administration of
medication or the performance of any medical procedure deemed necessary to
provide me with comfort care. In the event that the only procedure I am
being provided is artificial nourishment, I direct that artificial
nourishment be then discontinued.
2. If such life-sustaining measures are to be withheld or withdrawn, I
request that any form of medication deemed necessary by my physician, to
provide me with comfortable care or to alleviate pain be used even if it
makes me drowsy, sleep more than otherwise, or may potentially hasten the
moment of death.
3. If life-sustaining measures are to be withheld or withdrawn, I request
that my family be allowed at my bedside as much as possible, that Christian
pastoral care be given such as prayer and scripture reading, and that
Christian music be part of my environment even if it is determined that I am
unconscious, brain death, or in a supposed permanently vegetative state.
4. In the absence of my ability to give directions regarding the use of
life-sustaining procedures, it is my intention that this declaration shall
be honored by my family and physician(s) as the final expression of my legal
right to refuse medical or surgical treatment and accept the consequences
from this refusal. I understand the full import of this declaration and I am
emotionally and mentally competent to make this declaration.
5. It is my intention that the directions of this Living Will be followed in
any state or jurisdiction in which I may be.
NOTICE
This document has significant medical, legal and possible ethical
implications and effects. Before you sign this document, you should become
completely familiar with these implications and effects. The operation,
effects and implications of this document may be discussed with a physician,
a lawyer and a clergyman of your choice.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have duly signed this Living Will at Cheyenne, Laramie
County, Wyoming, this _____ day of _______________, 20__.
___________________________________
The declarant has been personally known to me and I believe he/she to be of
sound mind. I did not sign the declarant's signature above for or at the
direction of declarant. I am not related to the declarant by blood or
marriage, entitled to any portion of the estate of the declarant according
to the laws of intestate succession or under any will of the declarant or
codicil thereto, or directly financially responsible for declarant's medical
care.
___________________________________
WITNESS
___________________________________
WITNESS
STATE OF WYOMING )
) ss.
COUNTY OF LARAMIE )
Acknowledged, subscribed and sworn to before me by _______________________,
the declarant, and _____________________ and ________________________,
witnesses, as the voluntary act and deed of the declarant this
_____ day of __________, 2000.
___________________________________
Notary Public
My Commission Expires:
I,______________________, of __________, am of sound mind, and I voluntarily
make this declaration.
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
Psalm 116:15
