Thrive In RetirementSample

Be Long-Lasting

“Long-lasting” is advertising language you hear promoting cosmetics, batteries, and the flavor of chewing gum. Long-lasting applies to your life too. While living to age 100 used to be rare, it is common now. In fact, centenarians are the fastest-growing segment of the population by percentage. Your greatest risk for missing out on life may be failing to realize how much living is still ahead of you. 

Life has three big stages, each lasting twenty to thirty years. The first is childhood when we typically live with our parents. Next comes the adulthood stage when most people launch out on their own. These two stages were as long as life lasted for most of human history. Only in the last few generations has a new, third stage of life appeared: twenty to thirty years of active life after we finish our regular jobs. Most people call this retirement whether they actually quit working or not. Some people “retire” at fifty and others not until age seventy-five or later.

Popular thinking about retirement is that it’s a time to kick back, relax, be entertained, and generally do as little as possible. It is payback time for all your years of hard work. This isn’t God’s perspective. Wisdom begins with taking notice of our years, our point in life, and recognizing there is likely to be a lot more time ahead. God intends for us to continue growing throughout this new season of life. He has meaningful and satisfying ways for us to live out our faith during every life season.

You likely have twenty to thirty years ahead of you after retirement. Think back to a similar time-frame earlier in your life. Were there many changes in your spiritual life and personal growth between the ages of thirty and fifty, for instance? In the same way, expect a host of new experiences during the decades ahead. 

Pray that God will help you become wise about anticipating your future. Will your years ahead be characterized by a slow decline or will they be among the best times of your life? You have more power over that outcome than you may realize. You thrive when you embrace all the years of your life and live in God’s wisdom.

What are your expectations for your spiritual life in the years ahead of you? Your relationships? What will you learn? How will you invest your time? What will you have to give?