Is Suicide Murder?

I am certain that you have read or heard of the number of accounts of people who commit suicide.

The most recent account is the one about the man who decided to run his airplane into a building because of a disagreement with the IRS. Here is a person who burned up his own home and owned an airplane! Now I may not have all the facts correctly because I only caught a glimse of it on television, but is a very disturbing to me when I hear about people who decide to take their life and to take the innocent lives of others with them. What about their families or loved ones they left behind? Should we all just say," I had enough and kill ourselves." I have a hard time understanding this!

Suicide is an act that I think many people contemplate when their responsibilities in life gets too heavy for them. I know there have been times when my troubles seemed too much for me; I wanted to find a way to check out also, but I had to consider who would be hurt if I decided to do such an act and what did I accomplish by such an act.

As a Christian, I know that God did not create me to make that decision myself. That's a God decision, He alone decides when I live or die.

What does the bible say about a Christian who commits suicide? The Bible teaches that from the moment we truly believe in Christ, we are guaranteed eternal life (John 3:16) Christians can know beyond any doubt that they possess eternal life (1 John 5:13) Nothing can separate a Christian from God's love (Romans 8:38-39).

Jesus died for all of our sins; if a true Christian, in a time of spiritual attack and weakness, commits suicide, that would still be a sin covered by the blood of Christ.

However if an unsaved person commits suicide, he has done nothing but "expedite" his journey to hell. However, that person who committed suicide, will ultimately be in hell for rejecting salvation through Christ, not because he committed suicide.

I guess I have a deep sadness when a person takes his own life because he or she didn't trust God to get their affairs in order; didn't want to wait on God to find a solution to their
problem(s); didn't care about the people they left behind; didn't care about the people they killed; didn't care about themselves.

Suicide is a serious sin against God. Suicide is murder; it is a form of self-murder, and it is always wrong.

There is no circumstance that can justify someone, especially a Christian, for taking his or her life. So I assume that these individuals who decided to take their life, either on their own or for some religious cult's reason, did not know Christ.

God desires us to live and to live our lives abundantly, and how can we live an abundant life, not one of riches, but spiritually, if we decide that we have just had enough. We are to respect those who have authority over us, i.e., the government, and we should do what is right. We are to live a righteous life, pleasing to God.

Thought for Today: Christians are called to live their lives for God and the decision on when to die is God's and God's alone.