Kill Yourself? ...

Friday, March 25, 2011. Is it allowed to kill yourself? Sorry about this rather intrusive question. But I had an intense discussion about this topic this evening, and I realized that the question might be of some importance for a significant number of people.

Suicide …

Think about the following situation. You meet someone who tried to kill himself. He is an atheist. He says: life does not have a meaning anyway. So I would like to kill myself. I am around 50 now, and I do not want to become old and ill. So I just quit now. Why should I not do so?

What are the facts? What is reality here? From a Christian perspective we will judge the situation quite differently than from a worldly or atheistic viewpoint.

Even as an atheist I would say: life is so valuable, so complex, so wonderful, why do you want to end it? You could, but then it is all over. You could continue to live and experience a fantastic world.

The Christian Viewpoint …

But from a Christian viewpoint our insight is different. It is not just the fascination of life which could keep you from ending it yourself. There is much more to talk about!

God is there. He is the source of life. He loves you. He wants you. He created you. He does not want you to leave. He wants to keep you, to reach you, to be with you. He wants to give you new life, new perspectives, new motivation, new goals. He wants to fill you.

From a Christian perspective the question will never be whether you want to end your life. God does not want this, he has a future for you. Yes, he will take you to him, at a point in time which he determines. But it is mere a transition into something new, not just an end. And he wants us to start to live towards his world from the moment we get to know him! ... more texts