Suicidal Tendencies

Let me share to you an article by Pastor Doug Bachelor regarding suicide or self destruction. I found this on page 9 of "Amazing Facts Inside Report: Trees of Life and Death" Aug, 2000. The section is entitled Bible Answers

In Matthew 4:6, did Satan tempt Christ to commit suicide?

The verse reads,“And [the devil] saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is

written,He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest

at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone” (Matthew 4:6).

The three temptations Jesus faced encompass every temptation that any of us face. We find in 1 John 2:16 that there are three basic temptations: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life. Eve and Adam fell in those three areas; Christ overcame in those same three areas. We’re all tempted by those three things.

The devil tempts each of us with self-destruction, which is the temptation described in Matthew 4:6. Before I was a Christian, I toyed with suicide quite a bit. Without God, life has no purpose. Suicide, for the non-Christian, is logical thinking. If there’s no God, no purpose, no eternity, and if people are unhappy most of the time, then what’s the sense in living?

The Christian, on the other hand, realizes that suicide does not usher anyone into a better dimension, but instead permanently seals any bad circumstances.

If you’re struggling, suicide doesn’t make it better. Suicide seals it forever. There’s no reversing those bad circumstances.

Generally speaking, suicide is the last resort of a person who is in a faithless and hopeless condition. When such a person kills himself, all he has to look forward to is the resurrection of the damned. His next conscious thought is not a better one, but a worse one. The biggest lie of all is that suicide is going to be an escape. The Bible says sin is a transgression of God’s law, and one of those commandments says, “Thou shalt not kill [murder]” (Exodus20:13).  That would include killing yourself.

Having said this, let me hasten to add that we must be careful not to automatically assume that all persons who have committed suicide will be lost. We may be surprised to find some in the kingdom who ended their own lives when they were not in their right minds due to unusual circumstances such as mental illness, chemical imbalance, or excruciating physical pain. We can trust God, who looks on the heart, to judge fairly in these cases.

Our lives are a sacred gift from God. The devil is using a lot of methods today to tempt people to selfdestruction. Sometimes people commit suicide quickly; some do it by degrees through drugs, selfabuse, or cigarettes.

As long as you’re a Christian, you’ve got hope—of new life, a new body, and eternal life. Just read your Bible and keep claiming God’s promises. He’ll get you through it.