A number of years ago a teenage boy came to me for counseling, sent by his mother who had a great concern because of the mental turmoil he was going through. As he began to open up about what was going on, he said that all of this came down to his not wanting to live. He asked, “Why would God, if there is a God, put me here on earth in a family I don’t like, around people that I don’t like? All of this just makes me miserable. Why am I alive?” He had tried several times to commit suicide. I met with him over several sessions and attempted to lead him through the Bible to see that God as His creator had only good things in mind for him and that to experience them he must get to know Him and commit himself to follow His directives. Some of the things that I shared with him are in this article.
Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God…” We must first establish a source of authority for truth, and it can be found in Scripture. By reading and researching the Bible we learn who God is and what He is like. We find that there are over 300 descriptive terms used to reveal what God is like.
Some of the most often mentioned terms are: God is love (1 John 4:7), and God is good (Matthew 19:17).
God exists, and He is love, and He is good. He never does anything that is not based on His character. You are here because He has a plan for your life (Jeremiah 29:11), and if that plan is followed you will discover that it is what is best for you, and you can live a life that is satisfying.
Another question this young man had was, “If God has in fact given me life, (Psalm 139:13-16) why am I living at this time? I would prefer to be living during the time that Jesus walked the earth.” I assured him that God knew what He was doing, even when we may not know, and that His plans for us today are always what is best. I assured him that there is a God, and we are not Him! I taught him that we have an unseen God, facing an unknown future, with a Savior that knows all, can do anything, and is always working for our good.
This young man finally began to grasp the truths of God’s Word, and his life was dramatically changed! He met a beautiful young lady at church, they got married, and he went on to become a pastor of a church, serving God with his wife and son.
According to Provers 18:21, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”
I often give individuals positive declarations to make that help solidify Biblical truths.
POSITIVE DECLARATIONS
I am a good creation from God.
God has made me in His image and likeness.
I am full of potential, and will become and do all that He wants me to be.
Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.
As I yield my life to Him, nothing can stop me.
I am an overcomer. My faith overcomes the world.