Rick Warren's message for those considering suicide

hi I'm pastor Rick the author of The Purpose Driven Life and if you've ever felt like giving up on life I'd like to talk to you for just a minute you know a lot of studies have shown that almost everybody has felt suicidal at some low point in their life you may be feeling that way right now or you may know a friend or a family member or a co-worker who feels that way and you don't know what to do about it just over two years ago my youngest son Matthew who struggled with mental illnesses the entire life since birth took his own life it was the worst day of my life and I still grieve every day about the permanency of his decision to take his life now let me talk first to those of you who may be considering suicide here are some things that you really need to consider first suicide is a permanent tempt to solve a temporary problem it is not a wise solution you know the truth is most people don't really want to end their lives they just want to end the pain and there's a big difference between those two you don't have to die to end your pain now I understand that when you feel totally overwhelmed by your pain and your problems or by situations that you can't see any way out of that ending your life might appear to be the best solution but it is not it's like using a nuclear bomb to wipe out a nest of mosquitoes it's irreversible and it'll do far more damage and you possibly realize and will affect many many other people beside yourself there are a lot better ways to make the pain stop now let me give you some simple first steps if you're being tempted to take your life first I want you to write down this phone number 1-800 273 talk that's 1-800 to 73 ta LK that's the national number the lifeline for suicide prevention it's the National lifeline suicide-prevention let me give it to you again 1-800 273 ta LK now it's open 24/7 and there are people there who understand what you're feeling they can help you walk through this deep valley that you're going through right now and if you're feeling suicidal I want you to call this number as soon as you finish watching this video 1-800 273 ta LK second thing you need to realize that no emotion whether good or bad higher low happier sad no emotion can last forever emotions are like waves they come in on our lives and they crash but then they dissipate and they go away no emotion lasts forever no matter what you're feeling right now you're not gonna feel it in an hour and while the depression that you're feeling right now is intense it cannot I repeat it cannot last forever it's a wave that will go away because no emotion lasts so you don't want to make a permanent choice based on a temporary feeling never make a major decision when you're depressed instead share what you're feeling with another person so they can bear that pain with you the Bible talks about this in fact the Bible commands us to bear one another's burdens I'm supposed to help you and you're supposed to help me when we're down and there are people who would gladly do this if you'll just be open and honest and share how you're feeling don't carry it alone number three when you're feeling depressed you need to realize you're not thinking straight you can't think logically when you're depressed your mind gets too few confused for instance right now you might feel that the world or your family or your work would be far better off without you all they'd just be better off not me well I'm here to tell you you're dead wrong it's just plain wrong you are loved by God and you are needed in this world and he created you and made you for purpose I wrote an entire book about this subject called The Purpose Driven Life now the most translated book in the world except for the Bible and it's been the best-selling hardback in American history why is that because everybody has a fundamental need to know that your life matters that your life has meaning and that God has a plan and purpose for your life and God's plan and purpose for your life is greater than the problem or the emotion you're feeling right now if you haven't read Purpose Driven Life I'd encourage you to read it and talk to some friends about it and that leads me to the fourth thing God never meant for you to handle all the problems and all the pain of your life on your own we are wired for relationships we are better together the very first thing God said in the Bible it's not good for man to be alone we're meant to help each other out and share our emotions with each other you know when you share a joy that joy is doubled and when you share a hurt or a pain that pain is cut in half you need to find one person that you can trust and you need to tell them exactly how you're feeling as I mentioned earlier depression often comes in waves and while this wave will eventually subside you're not gonna feel the way you're feeling right now it is likely that another one will come again waves come in again and that's why you need a safety net when the waves come we call that a small group or somebody that you can call on and talk to never try to face suicidal feelings by yourself you're not meant to handle them alone again the feelings will sucide but it's very important that you first remove anything around you that would make it easy for you to take your life impulsively because people make decisions impulsively that have eternal consequences remove anything that would make it easy for you to take your life and then second when you're feeling vulnerable don't try to face it by yourself if you want to write to me you can write to Rick at Pastor Rick calm all of our daily Hope ministry team will pray for you we'll pray with you we people who can pray with you and pray for you right me Rick at Pastor Rick comm now let me say a word to those of you who may have a friend or co-worker or family member a loved one who's struggling with suicidal thoughts let me give you some suggestions first if somebody around you talks about wanting to die or more specifically wanting to take their own life take this very seriously do not treat it as a joke do not brush it off as an exaggeration or is a bid for attention or call them a drama queen better safe than sorry take it always seriously second if you notice changes in the behavior of somebody that you care about maybe they're just a little more moody than their than usual or they don't laugh as much as they used to they're more subdued and more serious or you just think something's not right you're probably right something probably isn't right you need to take the initiative to ask them care enough love them enough ask them what's going on don't be afraid to approach them and ask them if you can help them with the way they are feeling you might just say something like you know I really care about you and I've noticed that you just haven't seemed yourself lately it is everything okay just as something like that is everything okay and if they they say no I'm not okay well don't be afraid to ask if they've considered hurting themselves or ending their life it's actually okay to use the word suicide you could say well have you thought about hurting yourself have you thought about ending your life now regardless of the response yes or no you need to tell them again how much you care about them and how much they matter to you now if they say that they have been depressed then you need to tell them I will do everything I can to help you get through this difficult time and if they're struggling with considering suicide say I do everything I can to help you be safe to help you make it through this time to help you find a good doctor and a psychiatrist I'll even go with you to help check you into a safe place like a hospital I'll be glad to go with you and if necessary you might need to call 911 emergency it's much more important to save a life than to worry about what they think about you and you being offensive to them or whatever a taking risk that could make a fatal decision in a moment of deep pain like I said suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem you know I know of one man who survived jumping off a bridge he was trying to take his life and later he said because he did survive he said you know in that split-second that as I was falling off that bridge I had a moment of clarity he said I realized that everything in my life could be fixed or managed or resolved except for the fact that I had just made an irreversible decision later he was obviously grateful that he survived and had the opportunity to address those issues that had been causing him so much pain and depression and he later joined a survivors of suicide group like we have here at Saddleback Church and you could find them in any City survivors of suicide friend's suicide is far more common than we realize every year over 1 million people around the world take their lives in fact here in America each year in the United States over 40,000 people will take their lives now let me put that perspective that's double the murder rate in America twice as many people take their own lives as are murdered and among young adults that's a very vulnerable group ages 15 to 24 among young adults suicide is the number one killer of young adults in America in this epidemic we've got to remove the stigma of depression and other mental health issues it's not a sin to be sick your illness is not your identity and by the way the Bible says there's only one unforgivable sin and it isn't suicide it's rejecting the grace that God has given to us through Jesus Christ that is the only unforgivable sin suicide is preventable it's preventable when we're aware of each other's pains we care about each other's pain and we help each other through our pain so today and all this week I want to urge you to look around you for people in pain look beneath the masks of your friends look past the cliches that they write a text or tweet and see how people are really feeling it's the Jesus way of treating people and if you'd like additional help I'd encourage you to go to daily hope that's my website daily hope where you can find additional resources and you can get a free daily devotional god bless you

Channel: Saddleback Church

Views: 176,576

Rating: 4.6197181 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: fSvKVWs6zGc

Length: 12min 0sec (720 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 15 2016