The Funeral For What’s Been Killing You

# The Funeral You Need to Hold for What's Been Killing You

There's a powerful truth hidden in Romans 6:4 that many of us overlook: "For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives."

Notice the word choice here—*buried*. Not stored. Not paused. Not waiting for a better day. Buried. Finished business.

Yet too many of us keep living with what should have been buried years ago. The negativity that whispers in our ear each morning. The shame that colors every new opportunity. The bitterness that poisons our relationships. The doubt that paralyzes our faith. The addiction that promises relief but delivers destruction.

God already declared these things dead. So why do we keep propping them up like they belong in our future?

## You Cannot Resurrect What God Has Declared Dead

Here's a question worth pondering: Who are you listening to? Your own voice, which doesn't know as much as you think it does? Other people, who will misguide you all the way through? Satan, who specializes in deception? Or God, who alone speaks truth and carries you through?

The Scripture is clear: "We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ, we were set free from the power of sin" (Romans 6:6-7).

Some of us keep revisiting the grave site. We dig around, checking to see if maybe—just maybe—that old version of ourselves is still breathing. Perhaps it needs resurrection. Perhaps we should give it another chance.

But you can't walk in resurrection power if you keep playing undertaker to your own past.

The Israelites did this. Even after their miraculous deliverance from Egypt, they kept longing for their former bondage. They were free physically but remained chained mentally and spiritually. Don't make their mistake.

## God Closes Graves to Open Gardens

When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, something remarkable happened—and something equally remarkable didn't happen. Jesus had the power to empty every grave in Bethany that day, but He only called one name. Why?

Because resurrection is never random. God doesn't waste His power reviving what doesn't serve His purpose. He doesn't raise something just because it's dead. He raises it because it's destined.

There is divine discernment in what God resurrects and what He leaves in the ground. Some relationships, old mindsets, and bad habits—we keep praying for revival when God has already signed the death certificate. He's not being cruel. He's protecting your future.

Consider 1 Samuel 16:1, where God tells Samuel, "You have mourned long enough for Saul." Sometimes we confuse loyalty with disobedience. It feels noble to hold on, but when God says it's done, holding on becomes rebellion in disguise.

The oil doesn't flow backwards. When Samuel anointed David, that oil couldn't be taken off and returned to Saul. The anointing had moved on. When God shifts His favor, His assignment, or His presence, it doesn't flow backward just because we miss how things used to be.

## The Graves We Need to Dig

**Negativity** has been a familiar companion for too long. It feels safe because it predicts pain before it happens—you already know that territory. Today we call it "being realistic," but let's be honest: it's fear with a respectable label.

Proverbs 18:21 reminds us that life or death is in the tongue. If your words are heavy, your heart is still hosting what should have been buried.

**Shame** is another grave that needs digging. Many carry this burden from years past, letting it haunt every new season. But Romans 6 doesn't say you're stored or paused—it says you're buried with Christ and raised to new life. The old is gone. The new has begun.

To say "I'm not enough" is a lie from the pit of hell. Jesus left the ninety-nine for the one. You are enough because He says you're enough.

**Addiction**—whatever form it takes—must be buried too. Second Corinthians 5:17 declares, "The old life is gone and the new life has begun." Not "might begin" or "could begin." Has begun. Present tense. Active reality.

## Breaking the Agreement

It's not only the thoughts that poison you—it's the agreement you make with those thoughts. "I'll never change." "No one really stays in my life." "I'm too much." These are covenants made in pain, lies accepted as truth.

Breaking that agreement is part of the funeral process. Replace it with truth: the old is gone, the new has begun.

## Guarding the Grave

After the funeral, you must guard the grave. Negativity has a habit of returning like an uninvited guest every morning. The enemy will whisper, "Maybe it wasn't really dead. Maybe that shame really does look good on you."

Guard the grave with gratitude. Every time you catch yourself slipping into old thought patterns, speak thanks out loud. Gratitude is spiritual security tape—it keeps the grave closed.

Philippians 4:8 instructs us: "Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right and pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise."

## What God Buries, He Replaces

God never asks you to lay something down without giving you something better to pick up. Resurrection always follows burial. When you bury fear, you receive faith. When you bury shame, you receive forgiveness. When you bury bitterness, you receive freedom. When you bury negativity, you receive a new perspective. When you bury addiction, you receive deliverance.

You cannot walk in new life while clutching old death.

## It's in the Past

At some point, you must decide: Are you done with the funeral, or are you still feeding the corpse? You've been living in a graveyard of your own mind, but Jesus left the tomb empty for a reason—so you'd stop living in yours.

Maybe you lost a spouse, a job, a relationship, or a dream. Maybe trauma marked you in ways others can't see. But you're not dead. And you're making yourself suffer over something you didn't do and can't change.

God doesn't give you a badge of honor for refusing to move on. He promises that your latter will be greater than your past. It might be different, but it will be what you need.

When you release what you've been carrying, God releases the blessing He's been holding. But not until you release it to Him.

## The Choice Is Yours

Every day you have a choice: to be a caretaker of your old grave or a witness of your new life. These things are graves, not identities.

Isaiah 61:3 speaks of God giving beauty for ashes—but He can't give you beauty until you hand Him the ashes.

So hold the funeral. Write down what's been killing your peace. Name it out loud. Pray Romans 6 over it: "I have been buried in Christ and I rise to walk in newness of life." Then bury it—symbolically or literally—and let it go.

Because you're blessed. You're blessed in the city and blessed in the field. You're blessed when you come and when you go. And the devil is defeated.

It's time to stop decorating your tomb and start walking out of it.