Wayfaring Stranger
Member
I haven't had the time to read through every single comment and hope at least a portion of my reply is more than vain repetition... In skimming through this thread I have seen good arguments on both sides. It certainly is a complex issue. But if God is loving and merciful and knows the motives of the heart, could He not be moved to compassion for a person in the depths of suicidal despair? These people are not out to slight God, they are at their wits end and they can't conceive a better way out of an unbearable situation. Their pain is far greater than their ability to reason. I don't believe any person has the right to take a life, no matter whose, into their own hands. But I also believe that God forgives even murderers if their repentance is sincere (a broken and contrite heart He will not despise) - and only He can be the judge of that. Who among us can know for certain that in the moments after taking fatal action against themselves, a person doesn't realize their horrendous mistake and earnestly beg forgiveness from the bottom of their heart as they draw their last breath? Romans 8:1 says "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." God will judge all sin, but those of us saved by grace through faith in Christ have a merciful high priest who, having been human, can identify with our struggles and will defend us with compassion; who paid the price for our sins, past, present, and future, once and for all. Jesus was all about the compassion. Perhaps we, as his representatives here on earth should be as well. I believe we have a responsibility to shower people with the love of Christ, regardless of where they're at, instead of presuming to condemn them for something we might not understand. Judgment is God's alone. What if, instead of trying to scare people out of suicide, we sacrificed our precious time to listen to them and sympathize with their overwhelming burden? Just a thought...