What The Bible Says About Suicide. Part [5] 02/22/2024 (Evening thought)

Psalms 90:9 For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told. 10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

If all there is to life is to work hard and pay bills with no hope of eternal life then the impetus to continue living, when one is at rock bottom, becomes fragile. The apostle Paul sums up this perspective in words that make manifest the secular world view of living. Therefore, we will address some of the reasons why persons choose suicide as a way out, and then we’ll let the Bible speak for itself, as it pertains to God’s will in the matter, and we will present remedies, and preventive ways and means, so that folks can avoid going that route. We will begin with one of leading causes, or triggers for suicide.

[1] Depression. It is described as a mood disorder that is marked by varying degrees of sadness, despair, and loneliness and that is typically accompanied by inactivity, guilt, loss of concentration, social withdrawal, with sleep disturbances, and sometimes suicidal tendencies. Most persons go through some form of depression in their lifetime some more some less. However, the triggering mechanisms often vary from one person to another.

For example, king Solomon had become depressed after he sought for fulfillment, and joy in the wrong places. He had set about to get meaning out of life from the material possessions he owned, but he soon found out that the more things he accumulated, the more frustrated he became. Material things are good and meaningful in their legitimate sphere, but when the higher purposes of life are subjugated by materials, depression will almost certainly set in.

Luke 12:19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

May God add His blessing to the study of His word. “Good night and God bless!

What The Bible Says About Suicide. Part [4] 02/21/2024 (Morning thought)

Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

The Big Bang theory is also an indirect contributor to suicides and suicidal thoughts, for since, according to evolution, we came here by accident, some persons don’t see any reason to live if things are not working out for them. When people are led to believe that there was no purpose to their existence, suicide becomes a viable option, if their backs are against a wall, with seemingly no way out. There’s also the issue of terminal illness and the use of certain potent drugs, which are known to induce suicidal thoughts.

In our day, there is the practice of assisted suicide, where people engage the services of persons in the medical field, to bring about their untimely end, due to terminal illness. Our first passage teaches us that the good news of the gospel, produces a culture of life, and as such, is to be an important part of any study on the issue of suicide. One of the main reasons for this is the fact that the gospel offers hope, which is an increasingly rare commodity in our troubled world.

When individuals have something worthwhile to live for, and something better to look forward to, it gives them the impetus to live, because they are enabled and encouraged to rise above the here and now and focus on the great hereafter. In scriptural terminology it is better known as the blessed hope, by which persons are energized and animated to reach forward to those things which are before, even though on this planet things might get pretty bleak, which they are scheduled to.

1st Corinthians 15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. 32 If after the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die.

May The Lord add His blessing to the study of His word. God bless!