Why do people commit suicide?

The one reason people commit suicide is that we cannot stand to live with something in this life, be it with a situation, or circumstances related to people. Followed with the negative effects such as

Physical, mental, and psychological suffering

This was clearly mentioned in the Book of Job 3:3-4, who suffered so severely that he wished he didn’t even exist.

Job 3:3-4 Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived. Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.

Shame

As stated in Judges 9:53-54, a man who was one of the sons of Gideon was injured by a woman. He could not live with that shame and thus seek death as a solution.

Judges 9:53-54 And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech’s head, and all to brake his skull. Then he called hastily unto the young man his armourbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died.

Guilt

Guilt is something that eats away our conscience and will eventually consume us if not properly handled. In Matthew 27:3,5, Judas Iscariot eventually killed himself because he felt so guilty for betraying Jesus Christ, so he hanged himself.

Matthew 27:3,5 Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.

Fear

We can see that in 1 Samuel 31:4, King Saul committed suicide simply because of his immense fear towards his enemy, the Philistines.

1 Samuel 31:4 Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.

Bitterness

In the Book of Jonah 4:1-3, Jonah himself was suicidal because he was bitter at God for sparing the city of Nineveh.

Jonah 4:1-3 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. Therefore now, O Lord, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.

The pastor does not belittle what you’re going through at this moment. He said that he himself may be doing worse.

What do I do (as a Christian) if I feel like committing suicide?

Suicide is an act of not having faith in God, not having trust in God in your life, and not accepting what God has given you in your life. God is in control of our lives. We need a slight rebuke too. Whatever God is doing in our lives is for our betterment.

Let’s learn to accept all these things that are happening in our lives. God is in control of our lives, if we fail to see that, then not only should we pat ourselves on the back for comfort, we should also rebuke ourselves to an extent because of our wretchedness.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

My grace is sufficient for thee‘, isn’t this comforting and powerful enough to help us overcome the suicidal thoughts?

glory in my infirmities‘, see how Paul accepted the difficulties he had to go through in life, and how he was strengthened through the grace and glory of God. This should be the attitude of every Christian. Otherwise, we will be depressed and worried all the time.

Suicide is dishonoring God

We are not just hurting ourselves, we are hurting others and God as well. We defile the body that God has given us, His holy temple.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

In 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, Paul also said that whosoever defiles the temple of God, God shall also destroy him/her. When you have the thought of hurting your body, you are hurting God.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

Do not rob God’s house. The temple (your body) belongs to God, not to you. When you commit suicide, you take away what belongs to God.

Suicide is Hurting Our Loved Ones

2 Samuel 21:2-6 And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah.) Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the Lord ? And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you.  And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel, Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, whom the Lord did choose. And the king said, I will give them.

When King Saul committed suicide because of fear, his loved ones were also affected.

To be more specific, Saul’s sons paid the price because God decided to send a famine throughout Israel because of the Gibeonites being hurt by Saul, so the Gibeonites had to be avenged. David then tried to calm the famine and had to sacrifice Saul’s sons to avenge the Gibeonites.

Instead of doing what you want, do what God wants.