How to Prevent Further Suicides, pt. 4: Finding the Meaning and Purpose of Life

Many, if not most, suicides occur as a result of the person seeing no real reason to live.  They lose the drive to live because they do not see any reason to continue living.  That is why, when considering the subject of “How to prevent suicide,” it is important to consider not just man’s origins, but also his meaning and purpose.

Again, this is where the Bible is so informative.  The Bible emphasizes that each moment of life has a grand purpose, superseding any earthly or temporal connection.  Life was given in the beginning by God for the purpose of serving God.  We were fashioned for Him and for His pleasure. 

So, no matter what may occur on earth—be it the loss of a loved one, a loss of a job, or some other ill turn of events—one ought to see that his life is not tied up in these fleeting and fickle things.  His life is to be found in the Creator.  Man was designed to live eternally and in harmonious communion with the Almighty.

This lively and eternal prospective radically differs from the prevailing philosophy of the day. Most people in America are taught and embrace (be it consciously or not) the evolutionary and materialistic[1] perspective that has been handed down from Darwin.  According to this worldview a person’s life has but one end: the grave.   

It is easy to see why this angle worldview enhances the possibility of suicidal tendencies, particularly when one is afflicted with the dark and gloomy thoughts that accompany a depressed spirit.  One can, in that cheerless moment, easily come to believe that it is better to end one’s life sooner than later. 

The most optimistic in this camp will say that life should be lived for the benefit of others or that life’s meaning is what you make of it.  Yet even there one must confess that, despite great feats or pleasures, it is only a matter of time before the death bell tolls.  One may still wonder if there is any use in delaying the inevitable. 

Certainly the “Let’s make the best of it” philosophy is quite dire.  It only serves to highlight the real means of preventing further suicides.  Young people need to hear that life does have eternal and meaningful purpose.  They need to understand that God has designed them to forever enjoy the bliss of His majesty and benevolence.  They need to know that they are a part of a grand story and that God has given them a particular role in that story.  They need to understand that they were designed to serve Him and commune with Him all the days of their lives. 

When such principles are grasped, one may see that each day is worth living.  No matter how dark the day may seem or how useless one may appear in the eyes of men, he or she has a relation to the divine and is called to fulfill their divinely appointed purpose in that day.

[The above article is the fourth in a series on How to Prevent Further Suicides.]


[1] Materialism is the belief that matter is the only thing that exists.  It holds that there are no immaterial things such as a person’s soul, spiritual beings, etc.  

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