Daily Devotional for Friday January 25, 2002

Is Homosexuality Really a Sin

(1 Thessalonians 4:3)

If you accept the Bible as the inspired, inerrant Word of God, this is a resounding yes. Not out of some homophobic fear, or out of ignorance and intolerance, but because God clearly defines this activity as sin. There is a vast amount of scripture referring directly to a man/man or woman/woman relationship being sinful. Rather than using those passages, I chose today to use a passage from Paul's letter to the church at Thessalonica. it is here that the Bible simply states fornication is a sin. Just in case you thought today's Devotional was going to be a tirade against homosexuality, you are wrong. You see, homosexuality is clearly a sin. But as per the definition of fornication, sexual relations between two people who are not bound by marriage, anyone who engages in sex outside of a Biblical marriage (one man, one woman) is committing sin. There is absolutely no gray. It is very black and white.

While we are quick to point to homosexual behavior as sinful, and we acknowledge adultery as sinful, we also must understand that any type of sexual activity between two people who are not married is just as sinful. Having sex with a schoolmate, someone you work with, or whoever the other person may be, is a sinful act. I am working hard to drive this point home because many in the church, many good people who know Christ and are saved, are also living a sinful lifestyle when it come to their sexual activity. Like every other aspect of our life, we must come under the Word of God and abide by God's plan for our sex life, just as we must do that in our finances, our health, and every other area of our life. If you haven't gotten the message yet, living together without being married is just as much of a sin in God's eyes, as those living in a homosexual lifestyle.

What this ultimately means is choosing what you want for your life--God's blessings, or the heartache and pain of living in rebellion to what God has ordained for our life. I do not have to even ask those who have been involved in illicit affairs and sexual activity outside of the bounds of marriage the consequences of those choices. I read the thousands of emails daily. Abortions, broken homes, children without a traditional family unit, pain and heartache when things "don't work out," and on and on and on it goes. As I have pointed out so many times. God has given us free will to make our own choices. He has given us the instruction manual on how to live life His way. When we choose His way, there are blessings, and peace, and contentment. When we choose our way there is pain and heartache and destruction. Again, it is your choice, but God loves you and has tried to show you His way in very plain and simple terms via His Word.

I really do love you and care about you. I am so glad God gives me the opportunity to share each day a word that will challenge you and encourage you to be all that He has raised you up to be. The Christian life is one of balance and one of obedience. We can do so well in some areas, yet fall short in others. My goal is to get you to do an entire inventory of every aspect of your life. Note those areas where you're doing well in following God's will, and those areas you need to work on. God will help you, strengthen you, and guide you when you are open and willing to do it His way. I pray today that you will open your heart and find the strength only He can provide you to rise above the desires of this world, and make your heartfelt goal each day to die to self and live for Him!