Is suicide a sin?

[shazeep]

Surely some of you have counseled the depressed, and noted how exasperating it can be? Most of them seem to want nothing more than a pill for their ills, speaking generally. i have yet to get one to even get up out of their La-z-boy, and go for a walk. Depression is God's way of telling you that you are not getting enough endorphins, imo.

[Sean]

One touch of the Holy Ghost can fix depression!

[Sean]

Originally Posted by Livelystone

Easier said than done

Do you live with unbearable pain and a long term terminal disease that guarantees a horrible death outside of any divine intervention?

If the church(s) offered the hope that they should be able to through multiple healings of persons dealing with major health issues, you could rightly point your finger at the destitute.

What if your only water supply guaranteed you becoming terminal ill when all you have for further than you can walk is parched land with no water?

The Holy Ghost can HEAL depression.

That what its mainly for.

A Comforter.

The Comforter does NOT want us depressed.

If it does not want us depressed, then we must allow it to dominate our thoughts and filter the garbage out of our minds.

(also, sin and unforgiving guilt leads to depression)

[Sean]

The Holy Ghost wants our thoughts "care free" and "sin free"!!!!!!!

[jediwill83]

As someone who suffered major debilitating depression through their early teens and past and has recently got professional and medical help I can say that depression is a serious illness.

I went YEARS without getting that help and now I regret waiting so long. My life is totally different now and I'm thankful God has given men and women wisdom about the inner workings of the mind and body to be able to provide help.

As far as suicide goes all I can say is that when you are in that place you are not yourself...your sense of reality is totally different and skewed and your thoughts and actions are not ones you have when you are mentally healthy. It takes a great deal of empathy, understanding and patience to help and counsel people suffering from this and some are just not cut out for it.

If you put the blame on some kind of spiritual fault or failing all you are doing is adding to the sense of personal failure the person is already experiencing and it does no good...in fact it just makes it worse..."You arent praying...fasting...worshipping...giving enough"

[shazeep]

while i have to agree there, that it does no good to assign blame to the sufferer for a spiritual failing, this is essentially the truth, and so one is in a weird position of not being able to counsel the depressed with the truth! At least not directly.

A consideration is that most depressions--mine, anyway--are a function of expectations. "I expected things to be vastly different." And i tie this directly to Codependency. I have completely lost my expectations, for other people--or at least, if/when i do develop some expectations of others now, and that illusion is shattered, i no longer react like i would have.

There is, obviously, a blind spot in a depressed/suicidal person, that can seem insurmountable. Everyone has "let them down," quite often, when they seem irreproachable, in their own eyes. Codependency will have you looking for (your twisted conception of) Jesus, or the Perfect Person, in all of your friends, and constantly being disappointed, of course. While blind to your own faults.

We are a codependent nation, it is said; and there is a way out of codependency. Just getting a handle on what it is helps a lot.

"Inner peace begins the moment you choose not to allow another person or event to control your emotions." Wolfe

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by thephnxman

What are "God's mercy and grace"?

If a person is deceived ... "...you are drawn away of your own lusts...". Are we
(I mean Christians) even close to understanding and agreeing with this topic?

Lust is selfish desire, rooted in ego. Those who are suffering from depression, chronic pain, terminal illness, severe emotional duress and trauma, chemical imbalances, and demonic oppression are broken, hurting, and victims... not perpetrators. Consider military veterans who commit suicide. These men are living and trying to endure emotional trauma most of us can't comprehend. God can discern between the desires and intents of the heart.

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by shazeep

yes--obviously God's grace has been rejected, in suicide. i can speak from experience here. God simply refused to have it my way, and i was not willing to budge at the time....which no one seems to be clear on, either...

we are all victims, until we learn to overcome; but a suicide has become a perp, like any other sinner, imo, except that they cannot un-hypocritically ask forgiveness for their sin.

I don't see it that way. Most are hurting and tragically wounded souls.

[Aquila]

Originally Posted by shazeep

Surely some of you have counseled the depressed, and noted how exasperating it can be? Most of them seem to want nothing more than a pill for their ills, speaking generally. i have yet to get one to even get up out of their La-z-boy, and go for a walk. Depression is God's way of telling you that you are not getting enough endorphins, imo.

Most clinical depression is caused by changes in the brain. It is as physiological as brain damage, but on a bio-chemical level. Same with the brains of those who suffer from PTSD. I used to think it was all in their head, emotional, or related to perspective. It's far more than that.

[Sean]

Depression has its roots in sin and self-centeredness.

A Christian MUST eliminate these 2 things from their mindset to have victory in the Lord.

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.


When we realize we are nothing and our little (micro)world is nothing, and the only thing that matters is the world of GOD...our little world get big and beautiful!