It's Not Your Fault!

When someone we love commits suicide, it is a temptation to blame ourselves.  We go over all the events leading up to the person's tragic decision and we think how if only we had said or done something else maybe it would not have happened.  We need to replace this type of thinking with the truth.  The truth is that God gives each of us free will.  I have free will and so do you.  But I can't make you choose good or evil and you can't make me choose good or evil.  Suicide is a great evil; but it doesn't mean that the people who make this tragic choice are evil people. It means that they made a very bad choice.  Something has gone awry with their thinking.  This could be from mental illness or it could be from suffering a demonic attack.  The devil always wants to discourage us and lead us to give up.  But Jesus will never abandon us and He does not abandon the people who commit suicide (unless they choose to abandon Him).  Remember that Jesus once said, "The thief comes only to steal and slay and destroy.  I came that they may have life and have it more abundantly." (John 10:10).  The devil is the thief.  Don't let him win the victory by giving in to hopelessness or blaming.  Take your anguish and give it to the Lord as a powerful prayer to help your loved one ask for and receive the Infinite Mercy of our great Redeemer and Friend, Jesus Christ.