Inspiring Life Books participated as a vendor in the Texas Bridal and Wedding Expo in Houston, Texas, this past weekend. It was a great experience, and I was so happy that God would use us to encourage couples making one of the biggest decisions of their lives to be married forever. I was excited to be a vendor at the Expo. I was delighted to build an audience for my books and encourage couples to build their marriages on the Word of God. God created marriage as one of the first institutions of creation. He saw that something was missing from Adam’s life, as He managed His new creation and cultivated His garden. Adam needed something else besides animals to make his life complete. The animals could not feel what he felt, nor could they communicate with him. He needed someone like himself, so God created another person from the rib of his body. This is what Genesis 2:20-23 says “The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

And the very next thing that happened was that the two became husband and wife. God then said this would be the standard for marriage that man would follow. His standard is given in Genesis 2:24-25 “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.”  Not soon after this beautiful picture of the oneness between God, man, and woman, sin entered the scene, and everything came crashing down. We can see how easily sin destroyed this beautiful union. Genesis 3:1-7 gave the full account of the fall of man and the spiritual brokenness that happened when Eve chose to fulfill her desires. Here is an excerpt of Eve’s conversation with the devil, who entered the serpent. “Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.”

Humanity was cursed with the sinful nature once Adam and Eve rebelled against God. Childbirth would be the punishment and passageway of the sin nature, and we were all born that way since that time. The sinful nature that caused Eve to bring judgment on creation is the same sinful nature that exists today, causing all to desire to do life their own way. The sinful nature is always the culprit of the selfish desires of the flesh. We all have that same tendency, in that regard, none of us are different. When I considered our presence at the Wedding Expo, I wondered how those in same-sex marriages would react to an organization that was presenting marriage based on the God’s traditional standards. The great thing is that everyone was very respectful and cordial, when a couple would pass by and read our banner proclaiming God’s design for marriage, they would just keep on walking by. It is sad that the thought of a hostile encounter had to come to my mind. Why would those who have accepted the deception of same-sex marriage be hostile towards those who embrace traditional marriage? One reason is because of the treatment they have received from those in the church. Christ died for the sins of the whole world. He died for the sins of the liar, the gossiper, the murderer, the thief, the fornication, the homosexual, the adulterer, and everyone else who allows the desires of the flesh to overtake them, just as Eve did in the garden.

If the church had been able to address those with same-sex attractions lovingly and compassionately, instead of making them feel that they were weird, disgusting, or from another world, maybe the culture would be different today. A good portion of American churches, however, has become a den of thieves, snobs, and socialites. Christ died so that we may give to others the love and grace, He has given us. We were to be His ambassadors and representatives. His light in a dark and broken world. The message that those with same-sex attractions needed to hear when they would say, “We were born this way”, should have been, “Yes, we were all born that way” too. We were to share with them that without Christ and the washing of our rebellious and sinful nature, we all desire to do what our flesh desires us to do. None of us are different in that regard, we are all the same. Without the transforming work of the Holy Spirit, when temptation comes, we would all fall to whatever enticement that is presented to us. As followers of Christ, we must learn how to deliver the message of the Gospel to those who have been lied to and deceived by the devil just as he deceived Adam and Eve at the fall.

Those in the LBGT community feel hurt by Christians because so many times, they were made to feel less than they were, but Christians are not different. The fall brought on us all the same curse of the sinful nature. It’s the choice to either follow and obey God or reject His commands, that makes us different. God, who created us all, and has all authority over us, gives us freedom to either follow Him or reject Him. Joshua 24:15 says, “If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” So the message to us in these Scriptures is this; if you disagree with the commandments and standards God has given us to live by, choose for yourself, who you will follow. You have a choice to follow the ways of the culture or His ways, but for those of us who choose to follow Him, we must follow Him completely. We can not get hostile when we choose to follow our desires and another person believes something different about our choices. All sin is about disagreeing with God. Christians have chosen to agree with God. It’s not about how a person is born, because we are all born the same way, with a nature to sin, straight, gay, or otherwise. Be blessed.