Suicide and the Bible: Biblical Reasons NOT to Commit Suicide

Many years ago, while I was the pastor of a church in a small town in Iowa, a relative of one of my church members committed suicide. He was a teenager and seemed like a happy, well-adjusted young man. His family members were devastated (and angry). According to the suicide note, Bill (not his real name) was eager to get to heaven and enjoy life there. In today's world with its attitude of do-what-you-want and no-one-can-tell-me-what-to-do, such an approach to suicide is just as valid as any other. What does the Bible say, however? Here are some passages that give reasons why suicide is not God's plan for people.

Genesis 1:27 says that we are created in God's image. We're not some throwaway thing that can be discarded easily and without much thought. We are made in the image of the one who brought us into being and, as we shall see later, has plans for us.

Genesis 1:31 sums up God's attitude toward us. On the sixth day of creation, after the creation of, among other things, human beings, God saw all that had been made and it was "very good." To use the old phrase, "God did not make junk." If that's so, then we shouldn't treat ourselves like junk.

Psalm 139 expands on this theme when it says, "For you [God] created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made." (Verses 13 and 14)

John 3:16, as much as any other passage in the Bible, expresses God's valuation of human beings when it says that "God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son..." If we were worth the death of the Son of God, we are too valuable to treat our lives as something to dispose of as we please.

In this connection, it might be worth taking a minute to address the idea that people who commit suicide have low self-esteem. Generally, that's not true. People who commit suicide often believe that they're too important to suffer pain or disappointment. They're too important to themselves to worry about the effect of their actions on other people. They are, in general, self-focused and selfish. While that may seem a harsh and insensitive judgment, unfortunately it's an accurate one.

Ephesians 2:10 speaks in particular to believers when it says that we "are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." In other words, we are placed in this world to be available to God to do things, which God has in mind for each one of us to do. While God may not be surprised by a person's decision to commit suicide, suicide is certainly not the plan that God had for that person.

I Corinthians 6:19 tells me that my "body is a temple of the Holy Spirit." It goes on to tell me that I "am not my own." In short, as a Christian, I do not own my body and it is not mine to do with, as I want. It is to be used in the service of God to glorify God. Suicide is not an option.

Romans 8:28 recognizes that there are tough times in life, but it says "all things work together for good." If I trust in God and devote myself to serving God, those tough times will produce some good things. That's my faith.

No matter how attractive suicide may seem, there are some solid biblical reasons to stay alive and be a witness to the power of God to overcome or work through any situation. God didn't promise any easy life; God promised "never to leave us or forsake us" (Hebrews 13:5).

Source:

The Bible quotations come from The Holy Bible, New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1978)