If you are someone who claims the name of Christ, and who is mulling over the idea of ending your own life, know these truths: you are being tempted by Satanic lies and what you are contemplating is a grievous evil. Jesus knows and feels your pain. His body, the Body of Christ, is here to lift you up out of this pit. Leave your pride behind and cling to His body and His Church. You must only abandon your pride.

Every year around Christmastime, my family commenced a tradition of watching Frank Capra’s iconic film, It’s a Wonderful Life. I’ve continued the tradition with my wife and daughter, usually viewing the classic either on the day we cut down our Christmas Tree, Christmas Eve, or Christmas Day. I’ve always loved the movie; to me, the film has never gotten old or boring. I find that each viewing presents a new impression or lesson.
Several years ago, we watched It’s a Wonderful Life as usual. I always get misty-eyed at the final scene of the movie: “To my brother George, the richest man in town.”
But this viewing was different. One scene hit me so hard I started sobbing. Those familiar with the movie will know the scene (and those not familiar should stop reading this and go watch it): After jumping into a river to save Clarence, the angel charged with keeping him from taking his own life to provide an insurance payout for his family, George Bailey says, “I suppose it would have been better if I was never born.”
George Bailey’s self-assessment resonated with me, His plan to kill himself for insurance money cut me to the core. I was crying because, lately, I was wrestling with some similar thoughts. Although, I was lamenting that I didn’t have an insurance policy to leave my family.
Like George Bailey, I was tempted to believe that my situation, my family, and the world would be far better if I weren’t around.
The Accuser Of The Brethren
Revelation 12:10 refers to Satan as the “accuser of the brethren”, which Satan proves himself as in the Book of Job. The devil’s goal is to cause Job to curse God to His face. While Satan fails in this task, Job is assaulted by despair from every possible angle. His own wife chides him to “curse God and die” (Job 2:9) after losing his children, wealth, and finally his health. We can only imagine the intense level of grief and hopelessness Job experienced during those seven days of silence with his “friends”.
And yet, Satan’s accusation turns out to be unfounded. Job never curses God at any point. He sinks into sorrow and questions God, but doesn’t become defiant. In fact, Job maintains his integrity (Job 27:5).
Most of us don’t find ourselves in situations as traumatic as Job’s. But like him, we can experience the accusations of the Devil. Particularly when we’re living through desperation. One of Satan’s classic ploys is to convince us that because of our circumstances, shortcomings, or general misery, we ought to “curse God and die.”
Often this culminates in a final act of taking of one’s own life.
An Epidemic Of Emptiness
The United States saw the most annual suicides ever recorded in 2023 – over 50,000. To put this statistic into perspective, this means that more than 1 in 1,000 people kill themselves every year. This rate is increasing, too. We will soon arrive at a point where everyone knows of someone who has perished by their own hand. In the US, white male adults make up the overwhelming majority of suicides: upwards of 70%.
The proposed causes usually focus on the availability of guns or social media influence. Most theories do not focus on root causes. Some common sentiments and circumstances that lead to thinking in this dark, dangerous way include the following: the dissolution of a marriage or family relationship, seemingly insurmountable financial situations, the loss of a job, failure in overcoming addictive sins, the destruction of one’s reputation, despair at the state of one’s nation/community/family, or the feeling of powerlessness to deal with any of the forementioned things.
“I’m A Failure”
Often, it’s the everyday strife and struggle that brings one to the edge of the cliff. Men, especially middle-aged family men, are more likely to commit suicide. There are a variety of societal explanations for this, but in an anti-masculine society, it’s no surprise that many men feel powerless to stand against what they see as insurmountable odds.
Read More
Related Posts:

The sword of the Spirit is the word of God, so let’s continue to believe what God says, not only in His word, but what He says about His word. Let’s use that living and active word, and let it judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. May God save many souls through the preaching of the gospel.

We used to go regularly to one of the local colleges to share the gospel with students. At this particular place, it was super common to hear, “I don’t believe the Bible. It’s just a book written by men.” Honestly, we heard it so often that I was suspicious that all of the students had been coached to say it. And if you’ve shared the gospel any amount of time, you almost certainly have come across this same objection. The temptation is to say, “Well if they don’t believe the Bible, then I need to find another way to share the gospel.” I want to emphatically say, NO! I want to give three reasons why I still share the Bible with people who don’t believe it.
God’s Word is Powerful
If someone says that they do not believe God’s word, at what point does their opinion alter the effectiveness of God’s word? Hear this: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword” (Heb 4:12). God’s word is living. It is active. It is sharp. God has never asked permission for His word to be powerful. It is powerful, irrespective of what someone believes. Someone’s lack of belief in its sharpness does not dull the blade one bit. So if someone says that they don’t believe the Word is sharp, I just purpose to start slicing and say, “Let’s find out.”
Read More
Related Posts:

A thorough commitment to evangelical and Reformed theology was everything needed in times past to move Christians to compassion and care for the neediest members of fallen humanity. All the resources for a vibrant social ministry are found in the Reformed tradition. But more importantly, they’re found in the Scriptures themselves, which summon Christians to love their neighbors (Mark 12:31), to do good to all (Gal. 6:10), and to be a people zealous for good works (Titus 2:14).

In conservative evangelical circles, “social ministry” can sometimes sound like a four-letter word. Some view Christian activism and ministries of mercy among the poor as an impulse of theological liberalism. This isn’t altogether surprising, as theological liberals often promote social activism as part of the church’s primary purpose in the world. So when one finds a group of Christians passionate about social justice, helping the poor, and feeding the hungry, some may assume they must be theologically liberal or, at least, acting out the instincts of liberalism.
It’s worth noting that political and economic developments, especially in the 20th century, caused a net deflation in the value of Christian social ministry, as many advanced Western countries launched government-subsidized welfare programs to care for their neediest citizens. What some had once understood to be the responsibility of churches and charitable organizations (often founded by conservative evangelicals) was, by the early to mid-20th century, increasingly seen as the responsibility of the wider body politic, mediated through local and national taxation.
It’s at least plausible, then, that the twin developments of the rise of theological liberalism on the one hand and state subsidies on the other sapped conservative evangelicalism of what had been its characteristic zeal for mercy ministry.
Nonetheless, Charles Spurgeon should challenge us in this regard. If his social concern seems unusual today, perhaps it says more about us than about him.
Charles Spurgeon, Liberal?
Though “the Prince of Preachers” by no means championed a social gospel, he oversaw dozens of benevolent ministries in the heart of 19th-century London—organizing free schools for destitute children, advocating for American slaves, and caring for orphans and widows. But was Spurgeon’s social concern an evangelical anomaly, deviating from the Calvinistic tradition in which he was raised? 
Such a question betrays a contemporary consciousness shaped more by modern cultural debates than a serious reflection on the heritage of the Reformed and evangelical traditions. To properly understand Spurgeon’s commitment to social ministry, we must realize he saw care and concern for the needy as springing forth from his understanding of the Bible—as well as from the body of doctrine he’d received from his theological forebears. Without question, Spurgeon saw himself as living out the consistent social implications of Reformed and evangelical theology.
When one studies how many Protestants, beginning in the 16th century, prioritized care for the poor and needy, Spurgeon begins to look more like the norm. Meanwhile, many evangelicals today who are suspicious of social concern appear more like a departure from their historical and theological heritage.
Reformed Benevolence
Consider the Belgic Confession (1561), which requires that churches be properly ordered, in part, “so that also the poor and all the afflicted may be helped and comforted according to their need.” Or the Thirty-nine Articles of the Anglican Church (1571): “Every man ought, of such things as he possesseth, liberally to give alms to the poor, according to his ability.” Or the Second Helvetic Confession (1566): ministers should “commend the necessity of the poor to the church,” and the church should use its resources “especially for the succor and relief of the poor.” Or the Heidelberg Catechism’s (1563) question: “What is God’s will for you in the fourth commandment?” The answer in part is “to bring Christian offerings for the poor.”
Read More
Related Posts: