Suicide Won't Help
The False Assumption
Those who think of suicide as an easy way out of their troubles are acting on a false assumption. Suicide produces present and eternal problems. Why do people commit suicide?
Do you realize that suicide is now one of the leading causes of death among high school and college-age young people? What causes young people to become so fed up, so despondent, so confused, and so hopeless that self-destruction seems to be the only answer? I offer four reasons behind the skyrocketing suicide rate for 15 to 19-year-olds.
A Lack of Defined Goals for Life
They are like the chaff which the wind driveth away (Psalm 1:4). People are in a mad race trying to find out what life is all about. Young people, in many cases, are convinced that life is without purpose as they observe their parents and find them chasing in every direction possible, seeking satisfaction. In the United States, we have an over-abundance of everything. But, when you sum it all up, it is mostly an over-abundance of nothing. The emptiness of the marital world (quarreling parents, lack of love in the home, divorce, insecurity), the emptiness of the political world (the constant inability to find real peace)—these marked characteristics of society—tell us of the purposelessness that pervades our present day. For many young people, everything seems pointless. They have too many bad examples!
Guilt of the Past
Paul tells us, There is none righteous, no, not one (Romans 3:10). Sin produces guilt; guilt is an intolerable burden. Psychologists have made it known that the most common denominator in all emotional and related problems is guilt. The Bible assures us that it is the common denominator in 100% of all our problems. No one can live with guilt and expect to find happiness. As the result, what do we find? People are trying to shed guilt by eliminating its real cause—sin. Everything is believed to be relative these days. There is no such thing as right or wrong, we are told; guilt cannot be silenced. Young people are taking their lives because of the guilt produced by the sin of some tragic moment. Sexual involvement, cheating, lies to parents, drug habits, acts of crime, and a multitude of other things have produced guilt.
The Power of Passion
The Bible explains that every unsaved person is a victim of passion. Paul described the believer's past in Ephesians 2:3: Among whom also we all had our conversation [behavior] in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. In our day, passion is open and advocated. We are living in a society obsessed with sex. Movies and magazines, dirtier than ever, along with TV, have become the propaganda media for sex. And the youth of today are buying what is being sold. But, never forget it, sex out of marriage is a one-way street to nowhere but sorrow. The facts: according to a poll, more than one-half of American teenagers are sexually active by the teen years, and that age is decreasing. The teen pregnancy rate in this country is higher than that of any other developed country, except Hungary, and almost half of all these pregnancies end in abortion. Of the live births, a high percentage is out of wedlock. AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases are reaping their harvest. Heartache, depression, anxiety, guilt, social and incurable diseases are high prices to pay for sexual liberty.
Hopelessness & Failure to Foresee Potential
Solomon, in Ecclesiastes, came to the conclusion that all human effort is vanity, empty, without value and leads to frustration. Many young people are faced with the prospect of shattered dreams because of the same conclusion. Setting goals, hopes, and plans and finding out that they won't be fulfilled can and does produce tragic results.
There is a Solution
Is life as hopeless as some would lead us to believe? Based on God's Word, I am convinced that it is not. Those who know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord have a very different view. In Christ, purposelessness is translated into a divine purpose as we recognize God's purpose in life. We discover that in the eternal purposes of God, there is no defeat. Even in the hours of sorrow and suffering, we are assured that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). You see, through Jesus Christ, the guilt of the past is removed. The blood of Jesus Christ God's Son cleanseth us from all sin (1 John 1:7). The moment we trust in Christ, God forgives us and removes our sins As far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). He remembers them no more (Hebrews 8:12). Christ overcomes the power of passion. In Ephesians 4:24 we are told to put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
We are not capable of doing this alone. Only after a person receives Christ, and God the Holy Spirit enters the believer, is he or she able to control lust and wicked desires. Though one's potential may be blasted by disappointments resulting from plans that failed to come to fruition, in Christ a new potential is realized. When we know Christ, we have a God who has the power to do everything. In Him, we have the potential of such power. He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us (Ephesians 3:20). The unsaved man knows nothing about the power at work in believers. Only through a personal experience with Jesus Christ can this power be known and understood.
If you have never taken Christ into your life, do it right now. Christ will blot out your past and give you abounding hope for the future. Regardless of your age, you need Christ as your Savior and Lord. So, I invite you to turn to Him right now. There's no need to end your life. You can live and enjoy life with Jesus Christ, your Lord, on this earth and then for eternity.
Living Confidently
A Study in the Epistles of John
In the chapter titled Distinction in his book, Living Confidently, page 93, Dr. Blair wrote, "The return of Christ for His people is not only a consoling truth for our encouragement, but a challenging impetus for our obedience. When Christ appears and we are glorified, we shall be sinless. But we need to heed the truth of Scripture now and permit Christ to control us and live through us. The things which appeal to the worldly-wise should no longer be part of our program...the purifying process ought to be evident in our lives every day."
In the chapter titled, Determination, he wrote, "One may be as sure of his salvation as he is of being alive. If he has sincerely received Jesus Christ as his Lord, there is no room for doubt."
Further, in the chapter Distraction, we read, "But until Christ returns, Satan will continue as the powerful enemy of all that is right and good. How assuring it is for the child of God to know that we never need face this disrupter of peace and blessing in our own strength."
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