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Suicide
What do I do: If I want a Christian perspective?
God does not want for you to take your own life. That may sound strange or even irrelevant to you right now, but it is true. In fact, Jesus Christ gave up his life so that you could live. Jesus said, “I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10, NIV). In other words, not only does God not want you to take your own life, but he wants for you to have a great life! If you are considering suicide it is doubtful that you see your life as being “great”. So why is there such a difference between what God wants and what you are experiencing? That is a question that must be answered, but before answering it, let’s take a look at what the Bible says about how much God cares about you….
- “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit”. (Psalm 34:18, NIV)
- “Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares for you”. (1 Peter 5:7)
- “The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness’”. (Jeremiah 31:3)
Not only does God care about you deeply, and love you with an everlasting love, but he has made his very presence available to you. Take just a few minutes to review Psalm 139. It is not short, but it has a lot to say to you in your despair and hopelessness:
1 O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.
5 You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.
Because God cares about you, and has demonstrated his care by offering his presence, your situation is not hopeless. Jesus said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26; Mark 10:27). This brings us back to our initial question: “why is there such a difference between what God wants and what you are experiencing?” The answer has everything to do with Jesus Christ.
The kind of “great life” that God wants us to have can only be found in a relationship with Jesus Christ. It is in this relationship that a person can find hope, meaning, and direction.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”. (Romans 15:13, NIV)
If you would like to learn more about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, click here.
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