Most people have faith in God, but not everyone has achieved success in their faith simply because their faith lacks foundation. When faith is based upon the solid foundation of the Word of God, it has quality. And it is exactly this kind of faith that we can call “quality faith”—a faith that promotes or brings a life of quality.

The lack of quality in faith is exactly the reason why most religious people do not obtain practical results from their faith, even though they have faith in God. Life depends on faith. But if faith lacks quality, then life also will be a life that lacks quality.

Let’s take for example our father in faith, Abraham, for the following reason: the Lord teaches us, saying, “Look to Abraham” (Isaiah 51:2). Therefore, we should imitate him in faith and in obedience.

It was through his courage and boldness that he materialised the faith of the heart, when he offered his son Isaac. Besides having a courageous faith, he was patient to wait for the fulfilment of the promise.

Abraham had the privilege of being the first to receive the promise of God with an oath. Through him, all those who believe are blessed, but only those who are of his faith are the true Abrahamic descendants and heirs.

It is not according to the law that Abraham’s descendants will inherit his blessings, but according to the same quality of faith in God that he manifested.

Because of the nature of his faith, Abraham became God’s friend and heir of all His promises. He was elected by Him because of the sincerity of his heart and, ultimately, because of the covenant.

There was a large wall separating two large groups.

On one side of the wall were Good, His loyal servants and angels. On the other side was Evil, and all his spirits and humans who didn’t believe in Good.

Sitting on the wall, was a young man, who was raised in a Christian home, but was wondering if he should continue to serve Good or give in to the pleasures of the world.

The young man noticed that the Good group called to him, shouting, non-stop:

“Hey, come down off that wall, right now. Come over here!”

The evil group didn’t scream. Actually, they said nothing.

This continued for some time until the young man decided to ask Evil:

“The Good side has been calling me to come down and stay on their side this whole time. Why haven’t you and your group shouted or tried to convince me to come down and stay on your side?”

The young man sat baffled when Evil replied:

“It’s because the wall is already MINE!”

“Your life is worthless… Nobody cares about you… Kill yourself and all your suffering will end.” Have you been bombarded with thoughts like these to the point where you feel like you’ll never be happy again?

So many can no longer bear the sadness, depression and emptiness of their souls, feeling that they’ve reached their limit and make the radical choice to end their lives. Others, driven by desperation because of the break-up of a relationship or a financial crisis, seriously consider taking their lives as if this option was their only solution—their only way out.

Yet what people don’t realise is that in ending life we’re also putting an end to the last chance of finding the real solution to our problems. The truth is that we can only be helped and have our lives transformed while we’re alive.

Putting an end to something that already has a time limit, such as our body, isn’t as bad as having something eternal, our soul, cast into the worst of all suffering: an eternity without peace, literally.

If those who committed suicide had thought about it, they would never have killed themselves. This is because our power to kill is limited to just killing our bodies but not our souls.

If someone cut off their tongue, they wouldn’t be able to speak but they would continue living; if someone removed their eyes they would still remain alive; if they cut off their arms and legs they would still remain alive because their soul occupies the remaining parts.

That is, people have power over their physical bodies but not over their spirit. We can do whatever we want with our bodies but are unable to affect our soul. Not even touch it. Those whose consider killing themselves need to reflect. If we end our life, our flesh, where would our soul go since it is immortal?

Does suicide really only affect our body? What about the souls of those who kill themselves, where do they end up? With all sincerity, I don’t believe they go to a place of forgiveness, rest, or preparation for reincarnation.

So why put an end to your body? Will killing the flesh bring peace to the soul?

I have a suggestion: If you’re thinking of committing suicide; if these words reflect what you’ve been feeling at this moment, then do what you can to make a covenant with God. Be honest with the Creator of all life. Tell Him that if He does exist and is real to either change the course of your life or bring it to an end once and for all!

If you are sincere about making this covenant, your life will never be the same. Believe it, and without a doubt you will find the peace that you so desire!

A report issued recently by the Guttmacher Institute shows that around 70 thousand women die every year due to clandestine abortions. These unsafe abortions and death rates are higher in the developing countries of Africa and Latin America, especially where abortion is illegal.

I was reading an article about the subject on Portal R7 and remembered the day one of my neighbours decided to confide in me: she told me she had had an abortion and asked my opinion about what she had done. Well, if that young woman risked telling me something so serious, knowing that I could misinterpret her, it was because she could no longer keep that secret to herself. She needed to get it off her chest.

But immature as I was, I told her that in my opinion, her action was abominable, and that I would never abort a child of mine.

Some years later, however, I realised how cruel, arrogant and selfish I had behaved towards that young woman. Who was I to judge her like that?

Only those who go through a situation like that know what to do with their bodies. In her case, she must have known what she was doing.

Many women, without the means to raise a child, opt for an abortion. Some, maybe the majority of them, without the financial means, resort to a clandestine abortion. Unfortunately, not all of them have the luck to come back home, but die in the process. And this happens at all levels of society.

I am not saying that an abortion is the best way to solve a problem or the ideal solution for the lack of family planning. But if abortion was a legal practice, many women would be still alive, and not resorting to untrained persons under unsanitary conditions and inhumane treatment, exposing themselves to serious infection and ultimately to death—which, so often, happens at a very young age.

The legalisation of this practice would not solve the problem, but it would certainly reduce the number of young women who, in an act of desperation, resort to clandestine abortions.

You may not agree with this message, but you must agree with one thing: Who are we to judge anyone?

Hugs.

Jaqueline Corrêa

Who hasn’t heard a little voice in their head say, “I want to die”? Nothing happens according to plan and things always seem to go wrong. Those who have heard this voice feel like they’re in an endless tunnel searching for the light everyone says is there, but can’t be found. Death is their only thought. They think, “The only way I can have peace is if I die.” But is death really the answer to all of their problems?

According to the WHO (World Health Organization), about 1 million people from all over the world commit suicide every year. Suicide is one of the three leading causes of death for people between the ages of 15 and 44. And yet, no one talks about it! There are campaigns against AIDS, cancer, and many other things, but when it comes to suicide, most prefer to pretend they don’t notice, they’d rather not think about it.

Still, this issue is more common than it seems. Every day, people all around the world think about dying. Now the question is: does death actually bring peace? Who’s to say that life ends after death? That simply makes no sense.

Humans are composed of three parts: body, soul, and spirit. With death, the three also come to an end. The body rots, as everyone knows. The spirit returns to God. And what happens to the soul? If the person is saved, their soul goes to heaven, but if not, their soul goes to hell.

Those who are saved don’t want to die because their relationship with God is not based on a theory; it’s something real that brings them joy. Which leads us to the conclusion that anyone who longs for death is not saved, and those who are not saved…

In other words, suicide leads to infinitely painful and eternal torment!

You cannot solve a problem by running from it. But if your problems have been robbing you of your peace and you are tormented by thoughts of ending your life, then seek God. There is a solution! Right there, where you are, God is ready to step in and put an end to this suffering. But He can only do so with your permission. Just invite Him in, and if He exists like we believe He does, He will immediately respond to your plea.

Isn’t that easier than taking your life?

According to the Theory of Evolution, every existing animal or plant species is considered mutable. This theory has led some scientists to believe that every species goes through some sort of transformation (mutation) with the passing of centuries.

Recent studies reveal that 98.4% of human genes are similar to those of chimpanzees. However, scientists themselves know that a tiny difference of less than 1% is already enough to make human beings extraordinarily different from chimpanzees. In this way, we can insist that Darwin has been proved wrong, saying that the “missing link” is still missing; the Theory of Evolution continues to be only a theory.

The Theory of Evolution confronts the Word of God, for “by faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (Hebrews 11:3). Obviously, a person needs to receive a revelation of faith in order to understand this.

In other words, if we agree with the idea that an animal developed lungs because it needed to breathe, we are limiting God’s power to create. How could He have created something that would need to be modified through a process that takes thousands of years? It doesn’t make sense.

True Christians don’t need or depend on theories to support their faith. Faith is confirmed through the fulfilment of the Holy Scriptures. Theories are but words and speculations that only exist to try and prove that something improbable actually happened or existed.

Between believing in theory and believing in the Word of God—which is alive, effective and that can be confirmed in the life of those who believe in it—, I choose the second option.

If there is one thing that should be continually evolving, it’s faith. That way, we will not be conformed to this world but our lives will be transformed. Unless you prefer to be related to a chimpanzee—it’s up to you!