Is Suicide a Solution to Anyone's Problems?

What is it that a person really desires when they are contemplating suicide? Often it is peace of mind the person is longing for; a way out of "hell." In order to know how to escape something, it is helpful to know something about the thing that we are trying to escape. To see what "hell" is, we can look at some biblical examples of people who were in hell at different points in their lives:

David:

2Sa 22:6 "The sorrows of hell compassed me about..."
Psa 86:13 "...thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell."

Jonah:

Jon 2:2 "...out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice."

These people were alive and in hell. How did they get there? In David's case, he had been disobedient and broken two of the ten commandments; specifically, he had committed adultery and then had the woman's husband murdered. Knowing what was right (but doing wrong instead) caused a condition of hell or torment in his mind (Jam 4:17 ". . .to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin.") In the case of Jonah, it was also disobedience that caused his condition of hell. God had given Jonah, a prophet, instructions to go to the city of Ninevah and preach to the people. Jonah disobeyed, going the opposite direction. So in both cases, it was thoughts and feelings that caused the condition of hell or torment.

It is the same case with people today. It is still thoughts and feelings that cause a condition of hell, for example, disobedience, hate, anger, failure, fear, left-out, hurt, unloved, pressure, jealousy, envy, confusion. It is also thoughts and feelings that then present suicide as the escape from hell, for example, hopelessness, despair, "things will never change," "I just can't take this anymore," "this will bring me the peace I want," sometimes even anger and revenge toward others, "I'll show them," "they'll miss me when I'm gone," "they'll be sorry they treated me that way."

What the person really desires in this situation is to feel differently, to think differently, to have some peace of mind, to feel some love, some hope, some happiness. Suicide does not fulfill any of these desires. Suicide has never given anyone love, peace, hope or happiness because love, peace, hope and happiness are signs of life; suicide ends life. It may be a way to stop feeling the pain of hell, but the soul is not able to enjoy the freedom from hell because the soul is not around to experience it. At this point, the soul has ceased to be a feeling, thinking entity able to experience life. So are there other methods of escape that might be a better alternative? Let's check the scriptures:

Rev 9:6 "And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them."

Many people over the years have viewed death as an escape from the hell they found themselves in. Little by little a series of thoughts has grown and led them to the conclusion that physical death is the only method of escape, their "way out." The above scripture can be used to show us there is a kind of "death" other than physical death to the body that can provide us with a way out of misery, suffering, pain and confusion. How does this scripture show us that? In this way: this scripture cannot be speaking of physical death to the body. . .if someone is truly intent on dying physically, they will most likely succeed, physical death will not "flee from them," but will rather be found by them. This scripture is speaking of another type of death mentioned in other scriptures, the "death" of the "old man."

Rom.6:6 "...our old man is crucified with him..." Eph.4:22 "...put off...the former conversation the old man which is corrupt. . ." Col.3:9 "...have put off the old man with his deeds."

This "old man" is not a person's father or husband; it is an old way of thinking/feeling/experiencing life. It consists of thoughts and feelings that cause unhappiness, discontent, depression, hatred, jealousy, etc. (Gal.5:19,20,21 ". . .Adultery. . .hatred, variance, emulations [jealousy], wrath, strife. . .envyings, murders. . ." ). Scripturally, the "old man" is also referred to as "the body [mental] of the sins of the flesh" (Col.2:11). The "old man" is also referred to as "flesh" (Col.2:13, Gal.5:24). We are told there is a way to remove this old man from our mind (Col.2:11-13, Gal.5:24) by killing this body of information/thoughts/feelings, not by killing our physical body, but by killing a mental body of information. The process is to first learn to discern (identify) between the good and bad thoughts/feelings. Once identified, they can be separated from us by our choice. Then these unwanted bad thoughts/feelings can be deliberately and methodically removed from our mind. This is the death mentioned in Rev.9:6 that people will seek. Why are they not able to find it? Because not everyone will be willing to use the "way of escape" the following scripture mentions:

1Co.10:13 "There is no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

What is the way of escape God promised in this scripture? It is the power of grace to be able to change your mind regarding old thoughts/feelings/actions. Grace gives you the power to choose the thoughts you want in your mind and think/feel what you want to feel, even when unwanted thoughts/feelings are forcing themselves upon you. Unwanted thoughts and feelings are the "enemy" as in Luk.10:19 (. . ."I give unto you power. . .over all the power of the enemy. . .") Contrary to the popular saying, we are not our own worst enemy. The enemy is the devil (Mat.13:39 "The enemy... is the devil" ). The devil is the source of all thoughts/feelings that cause people to be in hell (mental torment or turmoil) in their minds. Grace gives us power to choose our thoughts.

Heb.4:16 "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."

Grace gives you the power to change your life:

1Co.15:9,10 "For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain: but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me."

Tit.2:11,12 "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;"

Heb.12:28 "...let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably..."

Since the hell (mental torment) we are trying to escape from is caused by specific thoughts/feelings in our minds, a power (grace) to change the thoughts/feelings is the "way out" of hell we have looked for. It is this power of grace that we can use to change a thought in our minds. We can learn from another one of God's gifts (the gift of discerning of spirits 1Co.12:10) how to recognize a thought, feeling or action that is causing us to feel distressed with our life. We can then learn how to use grace to overpower that thought we have identified and labeled as unwelcome in our mind. This is the "death" that we have sought for. After removing the unwelcome thought from our mind we can also learn how to "fill up" the empty spot with a thought or feeling we want to spend time with, such as peace, happiness, or love. This is the feeling we were actually looking for when we thought suicide was the only option available to us.

In the same way that the ministers of the early church taught the believers how to be free from unwanted thoughts and feelings, there is again a ministry on the earth to teach people how to be free, how to feel peace of mind, how to be happy, how to truly be alive. Yes, there is a "death" that must take place, but it is not a physical death, it is a spiritual death of the thoughts/feelings that have caused turmoil and torment in our minds.

So the answer is "No, suicide is not the solution to anyone's problems." But one might ask, "What about a person who is in great physical suffering, (perhaps from disease or accident)? Is suicide justifiable in this case? Or is it an unforgivable sin?" No person knows what choices any other human being is faced with; no person knows what pain or suffering any other human goes through. It is not for any human being to sit in judgment on another human being for the choices they have made. God does know... God is merciful... God is the judge of the choices we make because he alone knows why we made them.

Life is a gift and you want to live!! Self-preservation is a built-in drive. Living creatures have an instinct and bodily functions that are given to preserve life. But you must be taught how to preserve your mental, emotional, and spiritual life. It takes knowledge to know what to do. That knowledge comes from those that have already been taught.

Life is such a precious gift; we really have a lot to be thankful for. Don't give up. Fight for your life. Value life. Communicate life. Love life. Love is giving to others things that promote life.

Love one another as I have loved you (Joh.15:12).