In which I form my thoughts about beliefs into words…

I’ve been thinking about this for some time now, but just can’t ever quite get it all into words. Please bear with me.

To start, let me clarify a few things. I am a born-again believer in The One True God.  His son Jesus died to save me from my sins, and the words in the Bible are His. Even though the Bible can sometimes not be exactly “cut and dried” about everything, here are five things (yes, all 5 are concerning sex) that I believe the Bible is clear on:

1. Premarital sex (or any sex between two unmarried-to-each-other people)

2. Homosexuality

3. Lust

4. Purposely inciting lust

5. Infidelity/adultery

The thing that has got me thinking so much about these five things is this: it’s sad and amazing to me how readily the (almost) whole world accepts these things and sometimes even condones and defends them.

I’m not writing this post to defend that those above things are accurate and why they are so. I’m not really trying to convince anyone that the way I believe is the absolute truth, although I do believe it is.  Here’s why I’m writing:

My belief that lusting after someone (and if you have a spouse it’s adultery), knowingly and purposely inciting lust (whether that be by the way you dress or the way you act), premarital sex and adultery/infidelity all fall under the category of “repent, ask forgiveness and change your life” doesn’t make me “just some uptight prude”.  I’m also, of course, not saying I’m innocent of these types of sin! I have stumbled and fallen just like everyone else on the planet, but I recognize that what I have done is wrong and I recognize the same in others I when I see their struggles. Pornography, sex saturated commercials and advertising, “anything goes” views on marriage, divorce and premarital sex…all these things deeply impact me and sadden me for the condition of our hearts and lives.

My belief that homosexuality is wrong does not make me a homophobe. I am not committing some kind of hate crime to believe that someone living a homosexual lifestyle or has a pornography addiction is living their life in sin. It’s what I believe, and that’s okay!

You see, as Christians, we can’t just “accept it all.”  Jesus didn’t come and say, “Hey, so he’s gay! That’s okay! No biggie! Everyone has a right to love and sleep with whomever they see fit! Free love, baby!” or “So you purposely spend time each day lusting after someone who’s not your husband/wife? That’s a-okay! It’s only natural to lust after anyone and everyone! Just give in to it!”

And even if someone isn’t a Christian, surely they can still relate to the idea that one believes in something because, well, they believe in it. “Believing” is a basic concept. It’s based on reason or conviction, or just plain faith. Being a Christian means we believe what we believe, and it makes us who we are in Christ.

Even though those people who are living their lives in sin just want their lifestyle to be “accepted” and not prejudiced against, if I believe that the Bible is God’s word and that I should live by the words in it, I simply have to maintain that wrong is WRONG. Period.

Jesus loved everyone, but he didn’t accept their sin. As a child of God, I find the strength through Him to love the sinner because He loves me even though I’m probably the worst sinner of them all.

“Don’t be so open minded that your brain falls out.”

I have no idea where that quote came from, but it spoke to me because it’s really what I’m trying to say. I have to stand for what I believe is right, including all types of immorality being against God’s commands for our lives. I can’t just pack my beliefs away and say “whatever ya’ll wanna do! It’s cool with me!” because it’s not. You can call me closed minded or narrow in my thinking. I’d have to agree!  I’m not open to considering that what the Bible says doesn’t count. We have to know the difference between right and wrong, and stand against sin even if it’s not a popular position.

Let me be clear for a sec: I don’t even begin to condone REAL hate crimes against people with sexual immorality in their lives, or anyone for that matter. Churches like Westboro make me physically ill. I mean, seriously, if you want to get good and P.O.’d, just check out their website. People and groups who bomb abortion clinics or shoot the doctors who perform abortions are clearly wrong. I can think of many examples, but I think you get the gist.

But I won’t be so open minded that my beliefs in my God, his Son and the Bible cease to matter. I can’t have an “anything goes” frame of mind, because the fact is that there ARE things that are considered wrong by the Bible’s standards and I will uphold those standards in my life with God’s help, and Lord willing be a good example of what Christ living through someone’s life should be.

Trying to climb down from this enormous soap box,
Corrianna