(Please note, I am not out to attack anyone or cause offence. My apologies if you are offended by this.)
Once upon a time, there was a mother who had a very naughty son. Her child always seemed to be throwing tantrums, kicking and biting and punching. He pulled on his sister's hair; he bit the dog; he stuck knives into the toaster. Recently, he had even started stealing toys from other children at kindergarten. His mother did not know what to do, so she sought advice from a specialist.
"You cannot possibly love such a naughty child!" the specialist told her. "Being naughty is bad, and if you were to love him, then you would be loving the naughtiness too. You cannot accept such naughtiness, therefore you cannot love the child. Either force him to be good, or kick him out onto the streets."
The mother did not think this was the best advice, so she went to another specialist.
"There is nothing that can be done about the naughtiness," the second specialist observed. "And nothing should be done about it. You see, your son has absolutely no choice in how he behaves – he was simply born 'bad'. Trust me, it's all genetic. If you want to love him, then you must also love and embrace the naughtiness. Let him kick you. Look the other way when he sticks knives in the toaster. Encourage the tantrums. Speak to his kindergarten teacher to see if they can change the rules about stealing toys (after all, they wouldn't want to discriminate against him now would they?) Make sure your son knows there is nothing wrong in being 'bad' – it's just who he was born to be."
***
Now, this is a pretty ridiculous little story – yet these seem to be two commonly held beliefs when it comes to the topic of homosexuality. For some reason, people tend to think 'love' and 'agreement' go hand in hand. That you can only love someone if you agree with their actions or at least turn a blind eye to it.
But the truth is, 'love' and 'agreement ' are completely different! You can love someone without loving what they do. In fact, this is shown very clearly in the Bible.
Homosexuality is a sin – the Bible is very clear about it (see Leviticus 18:22, Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10). To claim it isn’t a sin is to claim you know better than God. To encourage or engage in such sin is an act of rebellion to God.
God hates sin (including the act of homosexuality). After all, sin is what tears us away from Him! Nowhere in the Bible will you find anything to suggest God loves sin; nor will you find any passage in which He changes His perfect law to suit the sinful desires of man. No, God is truly against sin – and the wages of sin are death.
Yet God loves sinners (you and me included). In fact, He loves us so much He sent Jesus – sinless in every way – to take our place on the cross. Jesus loves us so much that even while we were sinners, He died for us. Yes, He loves us - but He does not turn a blind eye to sin. Rather, He calls us to repent – to turn away from sin and to turn to Him instead.
Homosexuality is a sin – nothing will change that – but that's no excuse to hate someone.
We can love the person – but that's no excuse to turn a blind eye to, or even encourage, the sin.
Love sinners – hate sin.
God bless!
~KR Ludlow~
(Originally from http://minstrelbear.deviantart.com/#/d4pnuhi)
