Consider this, that ALL have sinned

The whole marital debate right now is really weighing on me.  It is something that I really feel needs to be addressed, but I feel almost too timid to address it – I don’t like confrontation very much and therefore do not want to cause a big old stink about it.  My thoughts on whether or not marriage should be “allowed” by the government is that the government shouldn’t be involved in telling me who I can and cannot “marry”.  I just think that the government is way too big, that it has been taken away from the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.  At the same time, I also think that marriage is something that is a covenant with God. 

With that said, I do not support gay marriage.  I know many gay or lesbian individuals and am privileged to call some friends.  Now, just because I am friends with them, does not mean that I agree with the way that they are living their lives.  Just like I wouldn’t agree with the way that an alcoholic or a drug addict is living their life.  God created us.  He loves us all equally – Jew, Gentile, Gay, Lesbian, Alcoholic, Drug Addict etc…  but He died so that our sin could be forgiven.  It specifically says in the Bible that laying with a man the way that one is supposed to lay with a woman is wrong.  Now I know that my LGBT friends and supporters would tell me that they were born that way.  Why would God make them that way if they weren’t supposed to follow through with it? 

Here is my answer, we live in a fallen world.  There are impulses everyday and choosing to follow Jesus, choosing to do what is right, is different than following a lot of these impulses.  If someone wakes up or is born with the impulse to go out and shoot up a school, that is wrong.  If a serial killer has an impulse to kill someone- still wrong.  If an alcoholic has the impulse to drink to excess- wrong…  If a drug addict has a tendency to use, that is also wrong.  If we, have an impulse to engage in sexual immorality- that is still wrong whether it is before marriage sex or same gendered.  There are verses that speak against all of these.  God made our bodies to be temples for His Holy Spirit and when we do things that abuse that temple, it hurts.

We can’t pick and choose what parts of the Bible to follow.  When people pick and choose what parts of something written so specific they choose to follow, that is when bad things start happening. 

God does love everyone.  He wants everyone to be saved.  What a great time for this whole thing to come out- during Easter when we remember Jesus taking all our sins and dieing on the cross for ALL OUR SINS.  He loves you the way that you are, but when you choose to be saved by grace, to live a life pleasing and holy to the Lord, then you choose to also give up those sinful practices.  When we choose to ask Jesus into our hearts, we have chosen that we are going to be living forever with our creator and we will be having eternal life.  During our time on this earth, God has called us to help others to see this.  He has told us in the Great Commission to go out and make disciples of all nations. 

If we were saved by grace, why then do we not show grace to those around us who don’t necessarily follow the same standards we do?  I am not saying that we should not stand up for what we believe in or that we should not say when something is wrong, but we should love that person and pray for that person or people to receive the same gift that we did and be saved by grace. 

I know that there are a lot of questions about why…  Why did God make me them this way?  Why did He put these feelings toward the same gender into their life?  Maybe it is time that we stop asking God WHY…  Maybe it is time that we start asking God HOW…  HOW Lord?  How can you use me?  How can you use this marital debate to show your love to the world and help to save it?  How Lord?  How can I love these people and show them that I love them, and still not support this life style?  How can I show them YOUR love?  How can we bring them to know that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God?

I am not a perfect person.  I am so far from perfection that it is sometimes a dot in the distance.  The only way that I am saved is through the great, amazing power of Christ.  Through Him alone, my Hope is found.  Jesus didn’t throw off the untouchables in society- through His love, he saved them.  He showed a prostitute the way, a tax collector was shown love.  Lepers were given grace and healed.  In today’s day and age: porn addicts are cured, drug and alcohol addicts no longer desire their drug, those that commit terrible crimes are being re-born.  Why is my sin different than theirs?  Why should I hate them?  Instead, why don’t I love them, pray for them, lovingly guide them in the way of the Lord and PRAY some more.  It makes me think of the prodigal son. 

I am going to take this Easter season to share the love of Jesus.  Let everyone know that just because they aren’t perfect doesn’t mean that God can’t live in them.  Just because they aren’t following His standards doesn’t mean that Jesus didn’t die for them.  What is awesome about the story of Easter?  Jesus came for all of us.  LUKE 19:10 “For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.”  So, instead of bashing the “gay agenda” and telling those that are supporting it that they are all going to hell…  why don’t we instead pray.  Pray for God to use us in their lives, pray tat we can show love, grace, mercy, understanding. 

Lets look at it this way.  I have been seeing all these adorable pictures on pinterest about a lion or a bear that became part of their saviors family.  Lets say there is a hurt wild animal in the forest.  We want to get to know about that animal, we want to help that animal, we want to save that animal.  Do you think that throwing spears or shooting at that animal is going to get them to trust us?  Do you think that hurting that animal is going to let that animal be happy?  No, we need to develop a trust with the animal, we need to nurture it and love it, and then show it how happy it can be living with us. 

This is what I will be putting as my profile picture

, feel free to join me. 

Today, I am replacing my profile picture with a cross.  This is the true sign of equality.  This cross is about how Jesus came to love everyone.  HE came to seek and save the lost.  If anyone is lost, know that Jesus loves you just the way that you are, He died for you, and your sins.  God didn’t make us to sin, but He gave us free choice and our choices have caused this world to fall into sin and darkness.  He came to show us the way to live and redeem us from our sins so that we could live with Him in the way that He intended when He set out creating the world.  Have you ever heard of the Roman Road?  (This next part is taken from http://www.gotquestions.org/Romans-road-salvation.html) it was a great way to describe it so I am quoting them. 

           

The first verse on the Romans Road to salvation is Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." We have all sinned. We have all done things that are displeasing to God. There is no one who is innocent. Romans 3:10-18 gives a detailed picture of what sin looks like in our lives. The second Scripture on the Romans Road to salvation, Romans 6:23, teaches us about the consequences of sin - "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." The punishment that we have earned for our sins is death. Not just physical death, but eternal death!

The third verse on the Romans Road to salvation picks up where Romans 6:23 left off, "but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 5:8 declares, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Jesus Christ died for us! Jesus' death paid for the price of our sins. Jesus' resurrection proves that God accepted Jesus' death as the payment for our sins.

The fourth stop on the Romans Road to salvation is Romans 10:9, "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." Because of Jesus' death on our behalf, all we have to do is believe in Him, trusting His death as the payment for our sins - and we will be saved! Romans 10:13 says it again, "for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins and rescue us from eternal death. Salvation, the forgiveness of sins, is available to anyone who will trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

The final aspect of the Romans Road to salvation is the results of salvation. Romans 5:1 has this wonderful message, "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Through Jesus Christ we can have a relationship of peace with God. Romans 8:1 teaches us, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Because of Jesus' death on our behalf, we will never be condemned for our sins. Finally, we have this precious promise of God from Romans 8:38-39, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

So, with that said, I realize this is long and winded, today, I am praying for the lost.  For those that don’t know Jesus- that they will come to know His love, His power and His redemption!  Amen.