There is a general belief, especially held in Western civilizations, that when our physical body dies , that for those that are faithful God believers, that our soul thus essentially rises to Heaven, and all thereafter, will simply then be an existence of love and goodness. That certainly seems like a fairly easy construct to accept, especially for all those that have committed many a sin, and have essentially also failed to have consistently to hold up good attributes such as patience, love, forgiveness, fortitude, integrity, good will, and justice. Unfortunately, for those that belief such, our existence after death, is not nearly as cut and dry as so many wish it would so be.
In reality, it has to be recognized that those that were known for being petty, disrespectful, dishonest, selfish-minded, hurtful, and the like, but have also demonstrated some degree of capacity to commit good deeds, as well, just aren’t going to be able to simply waltz into Heaven, and leave therefore their past, behind. That is to say, God is perfection, and those that have developed bad characteristics are going to have to work that out or else they will be perpetually on the outside of God’s great sanctuary and never on the inside; for remember this well, there are no shortcuts to Heaven, for we earn our way to Heaven, by the very thoughts and deeds that we so perform in our interactions with others.
That which represents the eternal kingdom of God, is that which only is consistent with the attributes of our God, so that each of us thus has a sacred obligation to get first our own house in order, allowing us then to be able to travel to the only destination that really matters. Indeed, all that which we have failed to address constructively in this world, are going to have to be eventually worked out, one way or another, at some time or another, or else, we will be on the outside, always to be looking in. For all those that believe that this seems somehow to be unfair, it has to be pointed out, that God closes not a door to anyone at any time, but rather because our conscience recognizes its faults, we are thus precluded from entering into that sanctuary that can only accept those that have developed that which is consistent with being a true representative of God’s good grace.
In short, the best time to work out our faults and our wickedness is to do so, whenever we are consciously aware that we have the personal volition to do so. That is to say, none of us should put off till tomorrow all that which could be and should be dealt with, today, for the longer that we hold onto bad habits and bad behaviors, the stickier such becomes, and therefore the necessary efforts to rid ourselves of that which we do not want and should not have, is going to get ever more difficult. Finally, we need to be honest and to recognize that what we truly take with us, is the essence of who and what we really are, and if that doesn’t seem to be up to snuff, then the change that we so desire to make, we are responsible to take good care of.