Suicide Prevention
This page, and associated pages, are not meant as a replacement of professional, dependable, godly, true Christian help.
If you yourself are not considering suicide, but are concerned for someone else then click here.
Why You Should Not Commit Suicide |
The Whys Of Suicide
How To Get Out Of This Rut |
Continued Help And Links
Why You Should Not Commit Suicide
"Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: "| 1 | Suicide Denies God's Love To Us |
You may say or wonder for various reasons if God does love you. One reason might be is that you may have had many terrible things done to you or just happen to you. Our enemy satan (yes, I enjoy spelling it with a small "s"), will often take the negative things in our lives and try to put the blame on God for them happening to us. Hence, we tend to think that God does not care and may even hate us. Yet the verse noted above indicates that this is not so. Try putting the blame on satan when bad things happen to you.
Another problem you may face is that you feel that you have made a mess of your life and / or you feel that you have committed too many sins for God to love you or at least even care about you. The Word of God is very clear that no matter how much of a failure we may be or whatever sins we have committed, God still loves us and wants us to commit our lives to Him. These two things, I had made a mess of my life and I felt that that I had committed too many sins, brought me to the point of suicide one night in December of 1969- I had been a failure at school, was turned down by colleges, and had been a satanist in the past.
At the end of this page, I will list a link to my personal testimony and a link to my page on forgiveness. Suffice it to say for now that the Blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse us from all our sins and the crown of thorns crushed upon His blessed head turns our failures into victories.
By the way, if you feel that you are ugly, hapless, stupid, etc., and are acquainted with people that say you are these things, realize that...
| 2 | Suicide Denies The Value Ascribed To Us By God |
"How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee."- Psalm 139:17& 18
This is one of many verses that indicate that God loves you immensely and places great value upon you. Though you may feel like a failure, or that your situation is hopeless, if you would TURN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE OVER TO GOD and let Him work through you, you will see that God is able to mold you into someone you thought you could never be. Again, in my tractate on forgiveness you will see that God can take some people you and I might think are worthless and change them for the good!
NO HUMAN BEING IS TRASH IN HIS EYES! Each of us has a worthwhile purpose in the eyes of God. It used to be in society that whatever Dad was, that what his sons would be. Your heavenly Father wants you to be His son /daughter - now. You might not know who your earthly father is, but you can know the heavenly Father in a personal way, making Him truly your Father.
| 3 | Suicide Denies The Purpose God Has Assigned For Your Life |
You may wonder...Purpose? What purpose could I possibly have? My friend, satan would like for you to feel that way. However, you can know and realize your true purpose by asking Christ into your life. What will happen will be the peace of God will come upon you and God will gradually lead you as to what you will do. Most likely you will begin to praise and thank Him, then feel led to read His Word. You may think to yourself at this point "what good will that do?", but if you follow through with those simple steps, you will eventually be able to hear what God wants to say to you and you will eventually be guided by His wonderful Holy Spirit.
How can I say this? I myself was transferred from this realm of death to glorious life by the power of Jesus Christ when I was 17 years old. As a younger child, I had a small juvenile police record. One particular arrest was something terribly embarrassing and I had felt that I had greatly shamed and disappointed my parents. I was so embarrassed that I did not want to eat with my family for about a whole year. I sat in front of the TV set and ate my meals. The detective at that time said "keep him away from other kids." That, I guess was, on his part the best advice he could give, but, looking back, I would recommend to modify that advice, which I will mention on the page for those who know of someone who may commit suicide. Later, as a senior in high school I found myself rejected by 3 colleges, had a history of rotten grades, was on the road to nowhere, and was absolute failure. Throw in some girlfriend trouble. As a result, I tried twice in December 1969 to "end it all." BUT on January 25, 1970, I accepted Christ as my Saviour, and for 3 or 4 weeks it just did not bother me about what I was supposed to do after HS. Then, in or near mid February, God called me to the Gospel ministry.
If you accept Christ as your Saviour, you may or may not be called to the same path I was, but you will be called to serve God in some manner, and when you obey, you will feel great about it!
To find out what God wants you to do, become "Born Again" by asking Christ to forgive you of your sins and asking Christ into your heart. Next, read His written will, the Word of God, and start to obey it by letting Jesus live through you. Realize that God will forgive you when you "mess up" and you ask Him to forgive you. As you gain strength from His Word, start serving Him. I still remember holding a sign with words on it for children to sing when I was saved (born again) for only a few months. It was something very simple, but at least I was doing something.
As you obey His written will, and serve God anyway you can, His SPECIFIC WILL will be revealed to you.
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And remember, you ARE NEEDED!!! Your family needs you!!! or /and . . . Your friends need you or /and . . . The body of Christ needs you or /and . . . Society needs you to be a Christian and be the salt of the earth. NOTE: All the above are needs. Satan doesn't need you, he just WANTS you - in hell! |
| 4 | Suicide Denies The Hope Afforded To You While You Are Still Alive |
Once you die all hope ceases! Even the gloomiest book of the Bible, Ecclesiastes, towards the end shows that there is more hope for the living than the dead! Ecc. 9:4! Consider this: there have been people worse off than you and they decided to live - and things turned out better for them! I think it was Chuck Colson who popularized the phrase, "This, too, shall pass You can be forgiven!
You CAN BE HEALED OF ANY DREADED DIASESE YOU MAY HAVE!-
My friend, upon the Word of God, whatever you have done - child molestation, murder, drug selling, - WHATEVER - YOU CAN BE FORGIVEN! Our gracious Father in heaven loves you immensely. However, He wants to rid you of your sin. We all sin because of our sin nature which we received at birth.
AIDs, cancer, whatever, MAY NOT be a death sentence for you. Jesus is the great physician. Isa. 53 and many other passages clearly indicate that God still heals today! There is always always always hope while you are still breathing!
Even if one is like a vegetable there is hope. If you have a friend or loved one in a vegetative state, do not give up! Read the Word of God to them. Never mind when the medical profession says that they cannot hear you - read! Pray! Worship! Sing gently to them! Never give up! I am of the very strong opinion that as long as one has breath there is hope, for, after all, God can take someone at anytime. If He chooses to keep someone breathing then I feel that there is hope!
NO MATTER WHAT PROBLEM YOU FACE, THERE IS HOPE! God has power to forgive and turn lives completely around, to heal physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally, etc., to cleanse, to work great miracles - but we must trust and pray without ceasing!
| 5 | Suicide Denies You Anymore Chances To . . . |
CAUTION! The Bible makes it very clear that THERE IS NO SECOND CHANCE AFTER DEATH! (See Heb. 9:27). One reason why you or someone you care for is considering suicide is because we have an enemy that wishes to destroy our lives and deprive us of Life Eternal. That enemy is satan. He works, in my opinion, overtime to get people into depressions or hem them up in situations where they feel that there is no hope whatsoever, and encourages them to think that there is no way out except for death. Here is his mode of attack: he ensnares us in some type of sin, causes us to feel worthless, guilty, confused, etc., then oppresses us, driving us to the point where we despair and do not trust God. Finally thoughts of suicide to "end it all" come into mind, and he finally drives some to the edge, sealing their fate. Again, understand clearly that the Bible is very clear that our fate is sealed upon death and cannot be reversed. There is no second chance upon and after physical death. Your fate is SEALED AT DEATH, NOT BEFORE death. YOU with God's help can change things NOW. Do not place your hope in the non-Biblical false idea of reincarnation. The Bible clearly points out that there is no such thing as reincarnation - WE HAVE NO RESET BUTTON!
Understand that while we are alive, there are many chances! With God's help, we make things right and do things right. Imagine if you can undo all that you have done wrong. Well, we know we cannot undo all of it, but, as noted above, God does forgive. That monkey wrench that satan has thrown into your life, God wants it to be used as tool in your hands!
AND THAT IS AN AMAZING ABOUT THE POWER OF GOD! He can take something totally messed up and turn it into something good. Some cases in point:-at least two great men of the Bible committed murder, but upon repentance and commitment to God, God used these men and their situations for His honor and glory. Who were these two men - Moses (Exo. 2:12) and David (2 Sam. 11 & 12)! David's case seems the messiest to me so let me share with you all the terrible things this man did. From the passage just mentioned, here is a list of David's sins at that time:
| 1. He did not do his job. He did not go out to battle when he was supposed to. |
| 2. He looked upon the nakedness of another woman other than his wife. |
| 3. He lusted after her, his neighbor's wife. |
| 4. He had sex with her. |
| 5. He attempted to cover the sin up. |
| 6. He got her husband drunk. |
| 7. He purposely had her husband killed in battle. |
| 8. He enlisted someone else's help to have her husband killed. |
Nasty guy, no? Yet, when he with tears repented before God, God did forgive him, and, though there were problems that resulted from these things, God used King David in many mighty and wonderful ways!
"But," you may say, "these are Bible people. They were Holy people!" The Bible makes it clear that these were people like you and I! Let us then truly repent, like David.
| 6 | Suicide Denies You Of The Chance To Escape Hell, or, At The Least, A Very Uncertain Fate |
Before posting this page, I ran a search on similar sites. Very few addressed this point and one poor mom feels you can still make it to heaven. A very dangerous premise! I feel sorry for
her, but the Word of God is the Word of God...
Eternal damnation surely awaits with everlasting shame and contempt for those that do not personally know Jesus!
Dan. 12:1-2 and many other passages.
Sometime ago, in an effort to reduce drunk driving, there was a TV PSA that showed a man in a hospital in almost a full body cast, with tubing and wires attached to him. The dialogue went something like this: "George here and his friend Frank went out to have a good time and got drunk. They had a bad car accident. Frank died. Frank was the lucky one."---
Objection 1- One may say, "I cannot believe in a God that would send someone to hell." Friend, the reason why people do go to hell is because they have rejected the LOVE of God through His Son, Jesus. This decision to reject Christ (which can be reversed) is made when we refuse Christ as Savior, not permitting Him to save us from our sin and sin nature. It is as if we had a terminal illness that could be cured but we told the doctor "no", even if the treatment was paid for! If one spends eternity in hell, the responsibility lies solely upon that person.
Objection 2- One may also say, "Well if I go to hell, at least I will have plenty of friends down there." Maybe so, but the Bible is very clear that you will enjoy no one's company nor will you be capable of enjoying anything.
Objection 3- - And here is another: "There is no such thing as hell. This current life is hell." Frankly though, if you honestly look at it, life here is a taste of both heaven and hell. There is a hell, for Jesus clearly speaks of it as a place of torments and surely a place to shun. Jesus is the only way to heaven (Jo. 14:6). Faith in a religion will not get you to Paradise. Only Jesus can get you there.
What about a Christian? Some would say that a Christian would never commit suicide - yet Christians commit other sins. Some equate suicide as, or part of, the unpardonable sin. However, the Word of God indicates that the unpardonable sin is something else. It may eventually include suicide, but the thought that suicide itself is the unpardonable sin is not supported by the Bible.
Someone may point out by logic that suicide is a sin and if one commits suicide, they cannot repent. First of all, in my opinion, we have to leave room for both the frailty of the human mind and the mercy of God. We also need to remember that we are not saved by works, but by grace, hence, one act of sin does not keep us out of heaven, but a lifestyle of sin indicates we are not ready to meet the Savior and have lost our salvation.
In the end, especially in cases such as this, God decides who goes to heaven and who goes to hell, not you or I.
Hence, for the Christian, there is a very uncertain fate. I would not wish to gamble on my placement in eternity by committing suicide. If you know Christ as your Savior please realize that satan is trying destroy you, and the Savior is right there, waiting to restore you!
| 7 | Suicide Denies The Sovereignty of God |
That may be the catch for you. You may be blaming God for permitting you to be in the position you are currently in. However, many times our trouble is our own doing, not God's. God has the exact time, place, and manner for all of us to die (Psalm 31:15), and for us to commit suicide is an indication of a lack of trust in Him.
If you feel that the trouble is not your own doing, or you just feel impending doom, you are most likely under satanic attack. Commit your life to Christ now, plead the blood of Jesus, ask God to help you to praise Him, and begin to do so whether you feel like it or not.
The sovereignty of God may be a problem for you because you wish to be in control of your destiny. Do not be fooled! Satan is controlling you whether you realize it or not!
| 8 | Suicide Denies God's Chance To Perform His Glory In Your Life |
Above, we mentioned that God has a purpose for your life and committing suicide denies that purpose. As we obey God's purposes for our life, His blessings become more evident as time goes on. You may think that you have made a big mess of things. Keep in mind that . . .
God loves to turn messes into blesses.
Do not kill yourself, for God has a time and place for each one to die (Psa. 31:15). And, it is far better to die as a child of God.
To Peter . . .
John 21:18-19
About the great prophet, Elisha . . .2 Kings 13:14
God, as we trust Him, will deliver us from each trial in His own time and in His own way. We just need to trust Him fully.
You may be going through a very difficult struggle right now. I know I did before I came to Christ. Yet, even in struggle, and even in failure, God can, and wants to, make victory blossom in your life.
In the New Testament, one of the major Greek words for trial is thilipsis. The raw rendering of thilipsis is..."a narrow constricting path." That describes all problems. But think of it in the following manner...
Consider the caterpillar that will become a butterfly. As a caterpillar it is quite lowly and probably has no idea what is in store for it. Eventually it climbs a tree and wraps itself into a cocoon. After some time, it must emerge from that cocoon. It must emerge through a very small hole compared to its' body. A thilipsis we can say. So the new creature struggles and struggles until it finally emerges from the cocoon- as a very lovely butterfly.
Now, let us say for the moment, you felt sorry for that new creature. You wanted to help it out. You get a knife or razor blade and cautiously make the opening bigger. What would happen? The creature may come out quicker, but it is not formed correctly. The wings are not as sleek and beautiful. Once the butterfly is out, you may find that it is unable to fly. It needed that thilipsis, that trial, to make it very beautiful. And so it is with you, and God, as you put your faith and reliance in Him, will see you through and make something beautiful out of your life!
But you may say, "I am tired of the struggle." You are in good company, for even Elijah got "burned out" and just wanted to die! See 1 Kings 19:4. God will give you the strength to rely upon Him and face life here in this world. One way is to worship Him.
But, again, a reminder - all of us need to commit completely to Him. We all need to accept Jesus into our hearts and let Jesus live through us. Then He shall work His glory through us. As this is done, it will be seen that you definitely have PURPOSE. Trust Jesus now to guide and direct you.
If you are a senior citizen and are thinking about euthanasia, realize instead that as long as you have breath in this present world you have purpose in this present world.
There are multitudes of secondary reasons why someone would commit suicide (i.e., rejection, lost of job, etc.), but I want to get to the root of the matter. That root is the fact that ALL of us are born with a sin nature. This is why we tend to sin, are prone to depression, often face failure and so on.
This sin nature affects our ENTIRE BEING,- body, soul and spirit. Please scroll down now to see how to overcome this sin nature, and kick thoughts of suicide out of your life.
How To Get Out Of This Rut
The sin nature is defeated by the entrance of Christ into our hearts (spirit)(Gal. 2:20). The Person of Christ within us regenerates us and helps us to conquer the depravity of the soul and body. Suicide is predominately a problem of the mind which is in the realm of all three, - body, soul, and spirit. Accepting Christ as Savior empowers you to make the proper choices! You also have greater access to the healing power of Jesus to heal your hurting mind and any problems with your body - including any bio-chemical disturbances that would plague your mind.
STEP 1-So accepting Christ as your Savior, that is, making a total dedication to Him, blasts that cursed root of our sin nature and sets us free on a new path to life. Please accept Jesus as your Savior now. To do so, pray this prayer and really mean it from your heart.
Father, forgive me for being a sinner. I ask Jesus to come into my heart to make me a new creature. Help me to love You and to live for You, in Jesus' Name I pray, Amen.
Now if you have prayed this prayer and meant it, check the following link, scrolling down once you get there for basic help for your new walk in Christ...
Step 2-Ask God to help you let Jesus live through you each day. You see, the main answer to your situation is not ending your physical life, but it is to die to your self-will and let God take control! We are never really all on our own, even if we do not have Christ in our life. Before we accept Christ into our hearts, we think that we are in charge, but, in reality, satan is, - pulling our strings, and sometimes nudging us to commit suicide. So instead of killing yourself, die to self and permit Jesus to live through you. If you haven't already done so, go ahead and pray that prayer you just read. You will have a new life!
Step 3- This may be very difficult, but force yourself to do it. Right where you are at, worship God. Praise His Name. Additional information on this can be found in my Overcome Depression pages, the link for which, I will soon mention.
Step 4- Read the Bible. St. John and 1 John are great starting points for new Christians. At this time, you will also greatly benefit from reading certain Psalms.
Step 5 - Plead the blood and resist satan. If you get more suicidal urges, fight back by praising God, pleading the blood of Christ, and, if you are saved, rebuking satan in the Name of Jesus Christ.
Step 6- Go to a good, solid, Bible believing Christian church and get involved there bit by bit. I will not tell you which one to go to. Listen to God. Study a bit on what each church you consider believes and consider their history.
Step 7- Serve others! Do what God tells you to do!
Step 8- Which recalls to mind that one needs to obey God in all His precepts. Your act of obedience does not save you, but letting Christ live through you is what counts. He has done it all.
Step 9- Seek professional, godly, Christian help.
Step 10- Let Christ live in and through you in such a way that you think positively. The very moment a negative thought arises in your mind, cast it away and concentrate on something true and positive. Again, please consider my Overcome Depression pages I am about to give a link to.
Step 11- Good nutrition can play a vital role, and, again, please see the Overcome Depression link below. Let me point out quickly though you should consume foods rich in the B vitamins, especially B12, and tryptophan, an amino acid.
Step 12- If you drink alcohol, give it up. Christ can do it for you. The same goes for drugs. Get into Jesus and get out of the mess.
Step 13- Talk to someone you can trust (and always make sure that what they say squares with the Bible). Unable to trust anyone? - talk to God, and carefully listen for His response.
Step 14-Avoid/ignore (with God's help) those who mock you in any way.
Here at my Oasis I have some pages to help those that hurt. Please try these - a second window should pop up.
What You Really Are - Select this if you are hounded by the feeling that you are ugly, stupid, clumsy, worthless, etc.
You May Contact Me - But keep in mind that I am not always available. But God is!
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Now, here are some links. I have tried to locate ones that name Jesus as our cure and unashamedly lift Him up. That is not to say that you will not find helpful information elsewhere, but, keep in mind, Jesus needs to be our foundation. I have avoided sites pushing Christian dating services for various reasons. Some of the links below will be simply supportive while others will have more info for you. The sites occur in no specific order and I cannot endorse everything you might come across. Let God direct you in all your ways.
Please let me know about any broken links.
Suicide Prevention by Bro. White - NOTE: Currently Down.
Brief but encouraging, and his site also deals with alcoholism and addiction to porn. Go to his front page and click on "About Me" to see how Jesus delivered him. On a side note, he has a good summary of the various views on the rapture. He's the first one to really explain "pre-wrath" to me.
LoveLines - an international ministry. This link may get you or someone you are concerned about some instant one to one help if you needed.
This Too Shall Pass Suicide Prevention-Brief, but beautiful with words that you may need to hear at this time. Helpful links are listed.
The Tragedy of Suicide by Pastor David L. Brown, Th.M. -Echoes many of my concerns. However, the brother believes in "once saved always saved" which I cannot agree with. I am of the opinion that some "Christians" who have committed suicide may not have been Christian at the time of their death. Only God really knows.