{"id":1350,"date":"2023-09-11T07:18:25","date_gmt":"2023-09-11T11:18:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/perspectiveministries.org\/?p=1350"},"modified":"2023-09-11T07:18:26","modified_gmt":"2023-09-11T11:18:26","slug":"the-seduction-of-suicide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/perspectiveministries.org\/the-seduction-of-suicide\/","title":{"rendered":"The Seduction of Suicide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>(If you\u2019re thinking about suicide, are worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, the Suicide Lifeline network is available 24\/7 across the United States, please call 988 or 1-800-273-8255)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy. This is the bottom line of suicide.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Suicide and suicidal thoughts are at their core, an activity of Satan.&nbsp;<strong>The Word of God teaches that our struggle is not against flesh and blood.<\/strong>&nbsp;That means that the battle for life and death is often an invisible, yet very powerful battle against the greatest forces of darkness,&nbsp;<strong><em>\u201cagainst the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual&nbsp;forces&nbsp;of wickedness in the heavenly&nbsp;places\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;<\/strong>(Ephesians 6:12). We are at war with Satan himself. Scripture tells us this powerful adversary is crafty, a liar, thief, schemer, and the great accuser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Sample notes from those who believed Satan&#8217;s lie:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><em>Mom and Dad, I can\u2019t seem to cope with the problems I have as a teenager. You don\u2019t give me any help and no one else does. I can\u2019t face life any more<\/em>&nbsp;&#8211; Teenage child<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Honey, I know I haven\u2019t done my best, but I have tried. I can\u2019t face life any more \u2013 take good care of the children<\/em>&nbsp;&#8211; defeated husband and father<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>I don\u2019t want to embarrass you, Mom and Dad, but I\u2019m in the kind of mess for which there is no solution and no hope. I cannot go on living like this any longer<\/em>&nbsp;\u2013 a 25-year-old single<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>If I looked a certain way, people would like me. I\u2019ve been rejected by many; I will just reject myself<\/em>&nbsp;\u2013 Lonely adult<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Suicide is submission to a deceiving spirit, a spirit that urges its victim to surrender because of emotional and physical pain he can no longer endure\u2014pain usually stemming from humiliation or hopelessness. It is Satan\u2019s main aim to make those who are in a dark spiritual battle feel ashamed and guilty. He is relentless in speaking lies to our minds and soul: you have really messed up, you will never be forgiven, and you will never be free from this turmoil.&nbsp;<strong>Not only will Satan lie, but waits for the opportune time to bring destruction in our lives.<\/strong>&nbsp;He is happy to wait years and even decades as he strategically plans his victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Death, even at one\u2019s own hand, is finally presented as a valid option and the answer\u2014the only way to experience freedom from bondage.&nbsp;In fact this self-focused mindset causes the struggling one to believe the deceptively wrapped lie that this is a self-LESS choice&#8211;others will be better off without you.&nbsp;<strong>The seduction from the devil is the shallow \u201cpromise\u201d that death will be gain when, invariably, it will be great loss!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Satan does not play fair.<\/strong>&nbsp;We must be aware of his schemes and his lies. He uses fear of all types, abandonment, rejection failure, generational sin, and even statistics. We must fight for truth both for ourselves and those around us. We do not have to be victims of our circumstances or even of generational sin. Just because depression, anxiety, addiction, and suicide have&nbsp;<em>had<\/em>&nbsp;victory in the family line does not mean you must carry this baton. Every family has sin, all the way back to Adam in the garden. Romans 3: 23 is clear,&nbsp;<em>\u201cFor all&nbsp;have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ezekiel 18 teaches that each man must choose truth for himself and not succumb to the sins of their fathers. Don\u2019t sit back and wait for the shoe to drop or the ax to fall. God\u2019s Word teaches differently, He equips us to fight, really fight, against Satan\u2019s schemes. God grants us the power to observe and then choose to&nbsp;<em>not do likewise<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Ezekiel 18:14, 17 \u201cNow behold, he&nbsp;has a son who has observed all his father\u2019s sins which he committed, and&nbsp;<em><strong>observing does not likewise<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;. . . he keeps his hand from&nbsp;the poor, does not take interest or increase,&nbsp;but&nbsp;executes My ordinances, and walks in My statutes;<em><strong>&nbsp;he will not die for his father\u2019s iniquity, he will surely live.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy,&nbsp;<strong><em>but Jesus came to give life abundantly.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>Do not fight this battle alone, please seek help if necessary.<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Know and believe God\u2019s truth from His Word.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Isaiah 54:17 \u201cNo weapon that is formed against you will prosper.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Romans 8:31 \u201cIf God&nbsp;is&nbsp;for us, who&nbsp;is&nbsp;against us?\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>1 John 4:4 \u201cGreater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Revelation 12:11 \u201cThey overcame him by the blood of the Lamb.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to help one who is struggling:<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<ol>\n<li>Believe their cry<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Listen<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Point them to the one who can give them hope \u2013 Jesus Christ<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Fast<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pray<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Seek help from a professional source and point them to a professional source.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(If you\u2019re thinking about suicide, are worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, the Suicide Lifeline network is available 24\/7 across the United States, please call 988 or 1-800-273-8255) Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy. This is the bottom line of suicide. Suicide and suicidal thoughts are at their [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6606,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"blog_author":[30],"authors_name":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/perspectiveministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1350"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/perspectiveministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/perspectiveministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perspectiveministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perspectiveministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1350"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/perspectiveministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6605,"href":"https:\/\/perspectiveministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1350\/revisions\/6605"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perspectiveministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/perspectiveministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perspectiveministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perspectiveministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1350"},{"taxonomy":"blog_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perspectiveministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog_author?post=1350"},{"taxonomy":"authors_name","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/perspectiveministries.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/authors_name?post=1350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}