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Dutch A gentle note before you begin: If you are struggling with thoughts of self-harm, please know that your pain is real and you are not alone. These verses are a source of comfort, but they are not a substitute for reaching out for help. Please contact a crisis hotline, a therapist, or a trusted friend or pastor immediately. Your life is precious.
Category 1: God’s Presence in Overwhelming Pain
These verses affirm that God is not distant in our suffering, but draws near to us precisely when we are most broken.
Salmo 34:18
"Il Signore è vicino ai cuori spezzati e salva coloro che sono schiacciati nello spirito".
Riflessione: This verse speaks directly to the crushing weight of a broken spirit. It’s a tender promise that God does not stand aloof from our agony. Instead, He draws nearest to us precisely when we feel most shattered and alone. The very fragmentation of your heart becomes the place where you can experience His profound presence and binding love most intimately.
Isaia 41:10
"Non temete, perché io sono con voi; Non ti sgomentare, perché io sono il tuo Dio. Io vi rafforzerò e vi aiuterò; Io ti sosterrò con la mia destra giusta".
Riflessione: This is not a command to simply stop feeling fear, but a powerful reason why we can endure it. The promise is physical and personal: “I will uphold you.” In moments of overwhelming weakness, where the will to stand has vanished, this verse paints a picture of God’s own hand holding you up, providing the strength that you no longer possess.
Deuteronomio 31:8
"Il Signore stesso va davanti a voi e sarà con voi; Egli non vi lascerà mai e non vi abbandonerà mai. Non abbiate paura; non scoraggiatevi."
Riflessione: The feeling of being utterly abandoned is a core wound in deep emotional distress. This promise challenges that feeling at its root. It speaks of a God who doesn’t just follow us into our darkness, but goes prima us, preparing a way through. You may feel forsaken, but the deepest truth of reality is that you are not and never can be.
Salmo 42:11
"Perché, anima mia, sei abbattuta? Perché è così disturbato dentro di me? Riponete la vostra speranza in Dio, perché io loderò ancora lui, mio Salvatore e mio Dio".
Riflessione: Here, the Bible gives us permission to be honest about our inner turmoil. The psalmist doesn’t pretend he isn’t downcast or disturbed; he acknowledges the raw reality of his emotional pain. This honest questioning of his own soul, followed by a deliberate, hard-won turn back toward hope in God, is a model for us. It validates the struggle while pointing to the Savior who is present within it.
Category 2: Promises of Hope and a Future
When despair tells you there is no future, these verses declare that God’s story for you is not over.
Geremia 29:11
"Poiché conosco i piani che ho per voi", dichiara il Signore, "piani per prosperare e non per danneggiarvi, piani per darvi speranza e un futuro".
Riflessione: Despair functions like a thief, stealing all sense of a future. This verse is God’s direct counter-argument. Even when you cannot see a path forward, He holds a plan. It is a plan born not of anger or indifference, but of a deep, fatherly desire for your well-being. Clinging to this promise can be an anchor when the storm of hopelessness rages.
Lamentazioni 3:21-23
"Tuttavia mi viene in mente questo e quindi ho speranza: Per il grande amore del Signore non siamo consumati, perché le sue misericordie non vengono mai meno. Sono nuovi ogni mattina; grande è la vostra fedeltà".
Riflessione: This passage is written from a place of utter devastation. Yet, in the midst of it, the author performs a sacred act of defiance against his despair: he chooses to ricordati God’s character. The feeling of being consumed by pain is real, but God’s love is the ultimate reality that prevents our total annihilation. Hope is not a feeling here; it is a choice to believe that morning will bring new mercies, even if the night feels endless.
Giovanni 10:10
"Il ladro viene solo per rubare, uccidere e distruggere; Sono venuto perché abbiano la vita e l'abbiano in pienezza".
Riflessione: Jesus personifies the force that seeks our ruin—it is a “thief” whose only goal is destruction. The impulse toward self-harm aligns with the thief’s mission. But Christ’s mission is the direct opposite: to give life, and not just a bare-minimum existence, but a life that is full and abundant. Choosing to live is choosing to align yourself with the very purpose for which Jesus came.
Isaia 40:29-31
"Egli dà forza agli stanchi e accresce la potenza dei deboli... ma quelli che sperano nel Signore rinnoveranno la loro forza. Si librano sulle ali come aquile; correranno e non si stancheranno, cammineranno e non saranno deboli."
Riflessione: Emotional and spiritual exhaustion is a profound reality for those in deep distress. This verse acknowledges that weariness. It promises a supernatural renewal that comes not from our own efforts, but from waiting in hope on the Lord. It offers a vision beyond just surviving; it speaks of soaring again, a beautiful metaphor for a return to vitality and freedom that may feel impossible right now, but which God promises.
Category 3: Your Inseparable Worth to God
Feelings of worthlessness are a lie. These verses ground your value not in your performance or feelings, but in your creation and redemption by God.
Salmo 139:13-14
"Poiché tu hai creato il mio intimo, mi hai unito nel grembo di mia madre. Ti lodo perché sono stato creato in modo spaventoso e meraviglioso; le tue opere sono meravigliose, lo so benissimo."
Riflessione: Your existence is not an accident. This verse describes a process of intimate, intentional, and artistic creation. You were “knit together” by God himself. Your inherent worth is not based on what you do, but on Who made you. The despair that tells you that you are a burden or a mistake is a direct contradiction to the truth that you are, in your very essence, a wonderful work of God.
Matteo 10:29-31
"Due passeri non sono venduti per un centesimo? Eppure nessuno di loro cadrà a terra al di fuori delle cure del Padre vostro. E anche i capelli della tua testa sono tutti contati. Quindi non abbiate paura; vale più di molti passeri."
Riflessione: Jesus uses this simple, beautiful illustration to communicate the depth of God’s personal, intricate care. If the Creator is attentive to the life and death of a common bird, how much more is His heart invested in you? The numbering of your hairs signifies a level of intimacy and knowledge that is almost incomprehensible. Your value is not just immense; it is personal and specific to the heart of your Father.
Efesini 2:10
"Poiché siamo opera di Dio, creati in Cristo Gesù per compiere opere buone, che Dio ha preparato in anticipo per noi."
Riflessione: This verse gives a powerful two-fold affirmation of your value: your origin and your purpose. You are God’s “handiwork”—His masterpiece (from the Greek word poiema, from which we get “poem”). Furthermore, your life has a purpose that was woven into the fabric of time by God himself. Your current pain does not negate the good works God has prepared for your future.
Romani 8:38-39
"Poiché sono convinto che né la morte né la vita, né gli angeli né i demoni, né il presente né il futuro, né alcun potere, né altezza né profondità, né qualsiasi altra cosa in tutta la creazione, saranno in grado di separarci dall'amore di Dio che è in Cristo Gesù nostro Signore."
Riflessione: This is one of the most powerful declarations in all of scripture. It builds a case, listing every imaginable force—including the despair of the “present” and the fear of the “future”—and concludes that none of them are powerful enough to sever the bond of God’s love for you in Christ. Your feelings of separation are real, but they are not the ultimate reality. God’s love is.
Category 4: The Call to Endure and Find Strength
These verses acknowledge the struggle is real, but they call us to a posture of endurance, promising that God’s grace is sufficient for our weakness.
2 Corinzi 12:9-10
"Ma egli mi disse: "Ti basta la mia grazia, perché la mia potenza è resa perfetta nella debolezza". Perciò mi vanterò tanto più volentieri delle mie debolezze, affinché la potenza di Cristo riposi su di me."
Riflessione: We instinctively hate our weaknesses, especially the profound weakness felt in deep depression. But here, God reframes it entirely. Our weakness is not a barrier to God, but the very place where His power can be most perfectly displayed. This verse invites us to stop fighting our weakness in our own strength and instead see it as an empty space that Christ’s power is eager to fill.
Filippesi 4:13
"Posso fare tutto questo attraverso colui che mi dà forza."
Riflessione: Often taken out of context, this verse is not about achieving worldly success. Paul wrote it from a place of hardship, speaking of being hungry, in need, and in difficult circumstances. It is a verse about endurance. It is a declaration that the strength to get through this moment, and the next, and the one after that, does not come from within, but is a gift from Christ who strengthens us for the journey.
Matteo 11:28-30
"Venite a me, voi tutti che siete stanchi e oppressi, e io vi darò riposo. Prendete su di voi il mio giogo e imparate da me, perché sono mite e umile di cuore, e troverete riposo per le vostre anime. Perché il mio giogo è facile e il mio fardello è leggero".
Riflessione: This is Jesus’ direct invitation to the emotionally exhausted. He doesn’t command you to “get over it.” He sees that you are weary and burdened and says, “Come.” The rest He offers is a deep, soulful settling that comes from handing over the crushing weight of trying to manage the pain alone. It is an invitation into a partnership with One who is gentle and whose presence brings relief, not more demands.
Giacomo 1:12
"Beato colui che persevera nella prova perché, dopo aver superato la prova, riceverà la corona della vita che il Signore ha promesso a coloro che lo amano".
Riflessione: This verse honors the act of perseverance. Simply enduring, simply “standing the test” of this profound trial, is a virtuous and holy act in God’s eyes. It promises that this season of suffering is not meaningless. There is a “crown of life” waiting, a final reward and recognition for the profound difficulty you have faced by choosing to hold on.
Category 5: The Sacredness of Life and the Body
These passages frame our lives and bodies not as our own possessions to do with as we please, but as sacred trusts from God.
1 Corinzi 6:19-20
"Non sapete che i vostri corpi sono templi dello Spirito Santo, che è in voi e che avete ricevuto da Dio? Tu non sei tuo; Sei stato comprato ad un prezzo. Onorate dunque Dio con i vostri corpi."
Riflessione: This changes the entire understanding of self-ownership. Your body is not just a shell for your consciousness; it is a sacred space, a temple where the very Spirit of God dwells. The argument against self-harm here is not one of mere rules, but of profound honor. Your life was purchased at the immense cost of Christ’s own. To honor God with your body is to care for it as the precious, Spirit-inhabited vessel that it is.
Deuteronomio 30:19
"Oggi chiamo i cieli e la terra testimoni contro di voi che vi ho posto davanti la vita e la morte, le benedizioni e le maledizioni. Ora scegli la vita, in modo che tu e i tuoi figli possiate vivere."
Riflessione: God places a fundamental choice before humanity, and His passionate plea is that we “choose life.” This is not a cold, detached command; it is the cry of a loving Creator who desperately wants His creation to live and flourish. In a moment when death feels like a solution, this verse reminds us that life is God’s intended blessing, the path He has set before us.
1 Corinzi 3:16-17
“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.”
Riflessione: This is a sobering and powerful warning about the sanctity of what God has made. The logic is clear: The temple is sacred because God dwells there. You are the temple. Therefore, you are sacred. The destruction spoken of is not a simple threat of hellfire, but a statement of a deep spiritual principle: to destroy what is sacred to God is to place oneself in opposition to God’s own heart and purpose, which is a devastating act.
Genesis 9:5
“And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.”
Riflessione: In this foundational covenant with Noah after the flood, God establishes the supreme value of human life. Life is so precious to Him that He holds all of creation to account for it. This verse places our life outside of our own sole jurisdiction. It belongs, in a profound sense, to God, and He considers it of such incalculable worth that He will demand an accounting for it.
Category 6: The Lifesaving Power of Community
Isolation is the environment where despair thrives. These verses command us to break that isolation and find life in connection.
Galati 6:2
"Portate i pesi gli uni degli altri e così adempirete la legge di Cristo".
Riflessione: This verse is God’s prescription against the lie that you must suffer alone. The “law of Christ” is a law of love, and that love is made tangible when we allow others to help carry the weight that is crushing us. It is not a sign of weakness to share your burden; it is an act of faithful obedience, creating an opportunity for another to show the love of Christ.
Ebrei 10:24-25
"E consideriamo come possiamo spingerci l'un l'altro verso l'amore e le buone azioni, non rinunciando a incontrarci, come alcuni hanno l'abitudine di fare, ma incoraggiandoci l'un l'altro, e tanto più quando vedi avvicinarsi la Giornata."
Riflessione: The instinct in depression is to withdraw and isolate. This verse urges us to fight that instinct. Community is not just a social club; it is a means of spiritual survival. We are called to actively “consider” how to stir up hope and love in others, and to receive that same encouragement ourselves. Consistent, honest connection is one of God’s primary tools for sustaining us.
Ecclesiaste 4:9-10
“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity the one who falls and has no one to help them up!”
Riflessione: This is a piece of timeless wisdom that speaks directly to the danger of isolation. The “fall” described here is not just physical. When we fall into a pit of despair, the presence of another person to help us up can be the difference between life and death. The verse expresses genuine pity for the one who faces that darkness alone, reinforcing God’s design for us to be dependent on one another.
Proverbi 27:17
"Come il ferro affila il ferro, così una persona affila un'altra."
Riflessione: This verse speaks to the constructive power of relationship. A friend who is willing to be “iron” is one who won’t let you rust in your despair. They can challenge the lies you’re believing, help you see reality more clearly, and refine your perspective. This sharpening can be uncomfortable, but it is a process that strengthens you and pulls you back toward a healthier, truer version of yourself.
