Lori was 14 years old when she was baptized at Blue Springs Community Church, a one-room country church only a few miles from her house. A few months later, Lori dropped out of the church. The pastor and his wife visited her several times, but failed to persuade Lori to return to church. Everyone was concerned for her, but no one suspected the real reason for her absence. Lori was pregnant. About a month before she was expected to deliver, Lori tidied her room, emptied her school locker, and wrote a note to her mother:
“You kept asking me if I was OK and I kept telling you I was, but I wasn’t OK. I’m sorry, Mom. I’ve got too many problems. I am taking the easy way out.”
Lori left that day before her mother arrived home from work. She walked to the railroad tracks near her house, knelt between the rails, and folder hands over her little round belly as Amtrak 168 barreled down upon her. The train engineer, a man who had a fourteen-year-old daughter of his own, later said that when he saw Lori, it was too late to stop the train. He watched her cross herself before she died.
Suicide is not a funny thing. People everyday consider “ending it all.” In fact, Suicide is the third leading cause of death among t15-24 year olds. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, eighteen teenagers per day kill themselves in the United States. Every 80 minutes another teenagers commits suicide. Over a hundred teens per week, and the total come to a staggering 6,500 lives lost. Not only that, but over 1000 teens per day attempt to commit suicide. That’s almost 1 teen per minute. 73% of kids admit having thought about suicide. How many of you in here know someone who has talked about or attempted suicide? The statistics show that at least 70% of you know someone who has attempted it.
Every suicide is an attempt to say, “I NEED HELP.” People will use faulty reasoning, and have a deep sense of hopelessness. They’ll say things like, “nobody cares about me,” “I wish I were dead,” “this world would better off without me.” I often wonder why someone would do something like this, but then I remember when I was in high school. On many occasions after a fight with my girlfriend, I’d have visions of driving my car into a ditch at 90 mph. I guess I had those thoughts myself. I thought, “I’ll show her…she’ll admit she was wrong when I’m dead.” It was that faulty reasoning that made me have those thoughts. I guess as a teenager you carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. There are so many things, and people vying for your attention, and sometimes you just can’t take it. Your parents are always doggin’ you, you just broke up with a boyfriend who cheated on you with your best friend, your heart hurts, you think it’d just be better to not exist at all…then the pain will go away. So, what do you do? You cut your wrists. You don’t really know what’ll happen, but who cares. You want the pain to stop. You’re tired of feeling the way you do, and you just want to stop hurting. It’s easy.
The truth is that others have felt that way before you. Others have dealt with hurt, with pain. Others have wished they didn’t exist. Psalm 73:14, “all day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning.” Those others are people from the Bible-God’s love letter. What!?! The Bible, a book of hope contains stories of suicide? Yes. Job 3:1-11, “ 1 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2 He said: "May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, ’A boy is born!’ That day—may it turn to darkness; may God above not care about it; may no light shine upon it. 5 May darkness and deep shadow [a] claim it once more; may a cloud settle over it; may blackness overwhelm its light. 6 That night—may thick darkness seize it;
may it not be included among the days of the year nor be entered in any of the months. 7 May that night be barren; may no shout of joy be heard in it. 8 May those who curse days [b] curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan. 9 May its morning stars become dark; may it wait for daylight in vain and not see the first rays of dawn, 10 for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me to hide trouble from my eyes. 11 "Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb?”
The same man, who only a chapter before this fell on his face and praised God after the Lord allowed Satan to take away everything from him, here is wishing he was dead. Then there were those who actually committed suicide—Samson- Judges 16:29-30, “Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other, Samson said, “let me die with the Philistines!” Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived.” Samson killed himself along with the Philistines in one final attempt at revenge. King Saul took his own life. 1 Chronicles 10:4-5 says, “Saul said to his armor-bearer, ‘draw your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised fellows will come and abuse me.’ but his armor-bearer was terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it.” 2 Samuel 17:23, “When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He put his house in order and then hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father’s tomb.” 1 Kings 16:18, “When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the royal palace and set the palace on fire around him. So he died.” And then there was Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus. Matthew 27:3-5, “when Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. ‘I have sinned,’ he said, ‘for I have betrayed innocent blood.’ ‘What is that to us?’ they replied. ‘That’s your responsibility.’ So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.”
Judas was so wrought with guilt that he decided to take his own life.
You know what happens when people commit suicide? They are playing God. They are trying to take God’s role, and take their life into their own hands. 1 Samuel 2:6 says it’s God’s role: “The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up.” There is only one true God, and You are not him, so don’t try to play God.
I guess the big question on all your minds is this: if someone commits suicide, do they go to heaven or hell? That question all depends on the person’s salvation. If someone is a Christian, and they commit suicide, then they’ll go to heaven. When a Christian accepts Jesus as their savior, God’s grace covers all their sins-past, present, and future, and those suicide victims who are children of God are redeemed souls in the eyes of God. You may be thinking, “but what about the unforgivable sin?” Matthew 12:31 contains the only sin that cannot be forgiven by Jesus. “And so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.” Jesus promises to forgive every sin of man if they’ll accept him, but the only sin that won’t be forgiven is blasphemy against the Spirit. Is suicide blasphemy against the Spirit? NO. When someone blasphemes against the holy spirit, it basically means that they’ve renounced Christ by every mean, and their heart has become so hardened that they’ll never feel guilty for not accepting Christ. Sometimes young Christians will be so scared of committing the unforgivable sin that they’ll continue to repent over and over. It’s plain to see that anyone who feels the need to repent hasn’t committed this sin. It’s also not up to us to judge who has or hasn’t committed this sin, but I want to make you aware of something that’s very scary. There’s a new website that is promoting blasphemy. It’s www.blasphemychallenge.com. (Show Video-blasphemychallenge.com)
I’m mentioning this because I want to express to you the dangers of doing something like this. It’s not a joke, it’s not a game. These people are for real. Are they going to hell? I am not one to judge that. Only God can judge that. 1 Tim. 1:12-14 says, “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance, and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” Paul was once one of those people who denied God, yet God saved him. We can’t be sure which of these people will never repent, but God does love and care about them immensely.
What we can be sure of is that suicide is NOT the unforgivable sin. So, does that give you the right to take your own life? Of course not. Suicide is an act of selfishness. It is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Even though life’s problems have got you down on life, God has created you and you are alive for His purposes! John 16:33 says, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Jesus himself admits life isn’t going to be easy, but he also lets us know that He has overcome the world, and that he’s there so that we can turn to him.
I know life appears to be unfair.
I know that people kick you around when you’re down.
I know that your journey has been a long journey with depression.
I know your family has rejected you all the days of your life.
I know that your talents have been overlooked.
I want to tell you that when Jesus is lord of your life, there is nothing impossible for him.
If you or someone you know is struggling with this, then there are some insights that can help you. First of all, don’t be afraid to call someone and ask for help. Don’t let pride get in the way. Much of Satan’s power to convince those who feel unloved and hopeless is found in his ability to keep them isolated and removed from those who can lift them up.
Tell the person’s parents, tell a youth pastor, get them the help they need. If it is an imminent threat, then you need to call 911 and stay with the person until help arrives.
(Good Charlotte Video-“hold on”)
“With the release of our video "Hold On" we wanted to write a note to tell you how much this video means to us and how important life is.
We have lost some close friends to suicide and it has affected just about everyone we know. Everyday we read letters from fans saying that the stress of life, the pressure with family, and losing love is too much to bear. We want to say that you may feel alone but you are not. So many have gone through the same thing and reaching out is a sign of strength not weakness. Life will get better and life is worth living even if it seems unbearable right now. It’s our goal that this video gives hope to our fans that have reached out to us, and maybe it will reach some who don’t know us. Even if it is just one person, if it makes a difference in their life it was worth the time, effort, and money it took to make. Life is not something we feel anyone should give up on.
Once again we will always thank our fans for being a part of this and making this happen, thanks for giving us a chance.” -- Joel Madden.
(Invitation)
