Suicide
Why Should I Keep Struggling When Life Is So Challenging?

“Why Should I Keep Struggling When Life Is So Challenging?” Thoughts of Suicide (2018).

“Why Should I Keep Struggling?” Thoughts of Suicide.

Why Should I Keep Struggling When Life Is So Challenging?

Mortal life is a precious gift from God—a gift that should be valued and protected (see Doctrine and Covenants 18:10). You are given mortal experiences to help you learn and to help you rely on your Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland reminded us: “Whatever your struggle, my brothers and sisters—mental or emotional or physical or otherwise—do not vote against the preciousness of life by ending it! Trust in God. Hold on in His love. Know that one day the dawn will break brightly and all shadows of mortality will flee” (“Like a Broken Vessel,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2013, 42).

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Elder Orson F. Whitney taught: “No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God … and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in heaven” (quoted in Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball [2006], 16).

If your challenges feel overwhelming, seek help. Everyone needs help from others, no matter how faithful they are. Even Jesus needed comfort and strength from His Father. The Lord can strengthen you or send others to help and comfort you (see Mosiah 18:8; 24:15). Get professional help or talk to your bishop or someone else you trust. Seek a priesthood blessing. Pray for help, and believe that you will receive it. God has not forgotten you.

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