Can you really be healed?

Romans 10:15 says “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.” The good news of salvation, yes. But the good news for the Christian who struggles with an addictive sin is that you can be free. Free of domination at least. Free to choose not to act out. Free to overcome the temptation, even when it begs you to take that turn at the next corner and walk just a little out of the way.

God’s grace keeps the struggler grounded in his or her darkest hours. A friend shared some simple reminders that have helped me and may be useful to you in sharing with someone who is burdened with homosexuality.

• God made them male and female. (I am a man and intrinsically capable of being drawn to, reaching out for and experiencing loving feelings and attractions for a woman rather than constantly fixating on my own sex.) Gen 5:2

• His commandments are not grievous. Christ’s yoke is easy and his burden light. (a godly, heterosexual mindset is in the long run easier to bear, less painful and more rewarding than homosexuality.) 1 John 5:3 and Matt. 11:30

• Love seeks not its own way. (Homosexuality is never a genuine expression of love toward another human being.) 1 Cor. 13:5

• God rewards those who diligently seek Him, and patience has its perfect work. (God will not forget my labors.) Heb. 11:6 and James 1:4

Forgiveness plays a big part in the overcoming: forgiving those who may have set you on the path . . . forgiving yourself for having lengthened the journey . . . even forgiving others you are angry at for not forgiving you. Unforgiveness is an open door for Satan.

It’s tragic what we do in life in hope of love and acceptance. We stumble around, yet Someone loves and accepts us from the moment we were conceived to the moment we no longer breathe and beyond. In sorrow, we yearn for someone to really know us and yet Someone has always known the very number of hairs on our head. To avoid solitude, we search the wrong and very dark places; yet we have Someone who said He would never leave us.

I am healing, rejecting society’s claims of inevitability, shaking off the weight of judgment, refusing to surrender to others’ genetic wishful thinking, accepting the reality of choice and embracing the simplicity of surrender . . . to the God who always knew me. Who was always there.

When I was knit in my mother’s womb . . . God was there. 
When my dad drove away forever . . . God was there. 
When the sex abuser crawled into my tent . . . God was there. 
When I married my best friend . . . God was there. 
When my children were delivered . . . God was there. 
When they turned away from me . . . God was there. 
When I was hurt . . . God was there. 
When I hurt others . . . God was there. 
When I was redeemed . . . God was there. 
When I fell . . . God was there. 
When I was restored . . . God was there. 
When I fell again . . . God was there. 
When I got up this morning . . . God was there. 
When I lay down this evening . . . God was there. 
He always IS.

So, I ask one more time. What do the gay people in your church look like?