The percentage of people who experience same-sex attraction is relatively small, whereas the sexual temptations faced by the vast majority of people are of a heterosexual nature.
The Bible instructs Christians to refrain from every type of sexual sin. “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body” (1 Corinthians 6:18).
I have never experienced same-sex attraction, and the same may be true for you. Nevertheless, we are also guilty of sin. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it” (James 2:10).
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There are plenty of people who were formerly controlled by gay desires who have come to experience new life in Christ. I hope you will read some of their transformational stories and be encouraged by their sincerity. This conclusive evidence demonstrates the fact that some gay people choose to be forgiven and changed by Christ. The Becket Cook Show is an excellent podcast that spotlights the changed lives of former homosexuals.
These are stories of people who turned to Christ in repentance and faith, and who are now incredibly thankful to no longer be living under the weight of unwanted same-sex attraction. Jesus changes hearts and lives, and the powerful flow of the Holy Spirit’s living water refreshes the heart and mind with holy desires (see John 7:37-39). This doesn’t mean the process of change is always easy. Not by a long shot. But the result of surrendering unholy inclinations and sexual sins to the Lord is liberating and invigorating. This applies equally to homosexual sin and heterosexual sin.
So, where do gay feelings and homosexual desires come from? God has never created a baby with same-sex attraction in their DNA. Instead, these ungodly sexual inclinations develop rather mysteriously within the hearts and minds of some people. Sadly, same-sex attraction may often stem from childhood trauma. A study at Vanderbilt University several years ago “found that 83% of lesbian, gay, bisexual and queer (LGBQ) individuals reported going through adverse childhood experiences such as sexual and emotional abuse.”
The last thing most victims of sexual abuse would ever want to have spawned within them is same-sex attraction. The biblical way to deal with these unwanted desires is to bring them to Jesus and ask the Lord to give you new desires that align with His will for your life and sexuality.
Haydee Irving left the LGBT lifestyle because she wanted a new life that would please the Lord. She explains how through Christian counseling, she came to “realize that God wasn’t trying to make me straight. Rather, He was trying to make me whole in Him. As that truth sunk in, I repented, and I decided to give Him my full ‘yes.’ Within months, I was baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit. Fully surrendered to Christ, I asked Him to heal me. And He did! Today, I walk in wholeness. I have forgiven my abuser, and I pray for his salvation … God has blessed me with a loving husband and four wonderful children.”
We are tempted daily to compromise our Christian faith and conform our behavior to the pattern of the world, rather than the pattern God designed for our good. The spirit of the world affirms and celebrates gay relationships, and the world expects everyone to get on board with this dark agenda. Even some professing Christians have fallen prey to this twisted ideology.
For example, the decision Chip and Joanna Gaines made to platform a gay couple on their new reality show is terribly misguided. Professing Christians should never promote behavior that God forbids. Franklin Graham responded to their unfortunate decision with wisdom: “While we are to love people, we should love them enough to tell them the truth of God’s Word. His Word is absolute truth. God loves us, and His design for marriage is between one man and one woman. Promoting something that God defines as sin is in itself sin.”
If you experience same-sex attraction, I suspect you did not choose to have those feelings and desires show up in your heart and mind one day. But here is where your choice comes in: You get to choose what to do with those desires. You can give into them and embrace a gay identity, or you can resist them, while recognizing that these ungodly inclinations are a huge threat to your body and soul.
Experiencing same-sex attraction does not make you a bigger sinner than anyone else. Thankfully, Jesus forgives our sins when we confess them to God and turn to the cross to receive forgiveness and eternal salvation.
God empowers believers with holy desires when we submit our hearts and minds to the control of the Holy Spirit. But don’t take my word for it. Read the testimonies for yourself at changedmovement.com. Ironically, former lesbians like Haydee Irving who have been changed by Jesus Christ tend to be shunned by the world. Go figure.
Dan Delzell is the pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Papillion, Nebraska.
