Before I start I just want to say that I'm not looking for help here, there's only one deity that can do that and I'm still waiting, I just recently saw a thread called Suicide and I wanted to see yours and others opinion on this matter while talking to an actual suicidal person. After all, if I have to do one thing before I die I'll at least help some people learn to talk to an actual suicidal person without making the situation worse.
So just put what your feelings on the matter is, if you think a person who commits suicide will go to hell, or what you would say to a suicidal person.
Only rule: if you're going to quote scripture, can you please translate it because there's an 85 percent chance I'll misinterpret it (I'm only 14 after all)
Thank you for your time, I know I might be waisting it.
The bible does not mention suicide in detail anywhere, nor whether it is a sin or not. It is open-ended.
Though there are several people who committed suicide, and others who asked to be killed, in the bible.
Judas committed suicide, Paul committed suicide, and Elijah, the great prophet, asked to be killed.
I do not believe suicide is something someone can, as I often say, 'throw a scripture at'. When you condemn a suicidal person to the 'hell' that most believe in, you give them more burden, and it is unbiblical.
We are taught to look after the poor, feed the needy, shelter the homeless. This comes by simple, tender compassion. Talk to them like a human being, not like a 'sinner', because we are ALL one of those.
I have dealt with several people in my life who have felt suicidal, and I learnt one thing from them all; they do not find comfort in words they have already searched for and read. They find comfort in no philosophy unless it is put forward with utter care, attention and love. And it is the love itself, from another, that they will find comfort in.
They generally know the contemporary view of suicide generally; that people see it as an unforgivable sin, but this statement is not said anywhere in the bible. It is all assumption. What that person really needs, is love.
I heard suicide once described as 'when a person's pain outweighs their ability to cope'. So we give them ability to cope. Someone to talk to. Not fear, not reprieve, not malice, not spite. Simply listening can make all the difference. Giving them that one friend. Love IS patient. And love does not take pleasure in the suffering of others.
When someone says 'God will look after you', or something like that, it is like saying to the hungry man 'God will fill you', when we ourselves have the means to bring that man to eating, to give him food.
When you see a suicidal person, realise that they are in deep emotional conflict, in deep emotional pain, and sometimes, emotional pain can literally become physical.
IT is an awful experience and I've been there myself. There is nothing more hopeless to be told than 'you will go to eternal hell if you do'. Even when someone says it roundaboutly, It's like saying 'God hates you because you feel suicidal'. It is terrible and I wish it on nobody. They say it thinking it will 'stop' that person from 'doing it'. But what it really does is take away every piece of control that that person has. They feel as though they cannot live, yet they cannot cause themselves to die. They have nothing to live for in these moments. And to truly show them God, a person must show them love. Because that is what they need.
Love is the great healer. But coldness brings a hopelessness to people.
