I find it interesting that this pattern of thinking is “preached” doggedly in the secular world, but not applied equally to all forms of behavior. In fact, it is applied very selectively. Where sexuality is concerned, the current trend is to encourage people who may be heterosexual, but have had some homosexual thoughts, to label themselves as homosexual or bisexual, rather than regard that thought as sinful and choose not to act on it. I know of Christian people that have at some point given in to some type of sexual perversion, whether pornography, a homosexual encounter, infidelity, or some other form of immorality. These people knew in their hearts that this activity was contrary to God’s nature and His Word, but they fell into sin. When they began to repent, they were labeled by their worldly friends as hypocrites. Their friends told them that not acting on these desires would make them untrue to “who they really were.”
I beg to differ! Here is some hypocrisy for you: The world does not encourage the person who is consumed with rage and wants to kill someone to simply accept their identity as a murderer and go for it. The world does not tell a person who is tempted to lie to simply accept themselves as a liar and tell as many lies as they want. They never tell a person that has an irrational hatred toward a person of another color, or women – “Oh, you are just a racist, or sexist.” “That’s who you are, just act on it.” Our culture wants to separate sexuality out from every other type of behavior, and say that whatever you feel is who you are – this is disingenuous.
The bottom line is that the Bible says that all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The central point of the Gospel is that God does accept everyone of us in our current sinful condition, but that when we accept Him, and pursue Him, He changes us at the core of our being. We begin to live new lives, because we are new people. Our identity is not defined by our behavior; in fact our identity drives our behavior. Only our Creator has the right to assign our identity. That is why it is so important for us to know that we are not just the result of a cosmic accident, we are creations of a loving God. We are not just a random collection of molecules; there was a Designer behind our design.
Knowing that God loves you enough to lay down His life for you, tells you something about your value and your true identity. When you see yourself, really see yourself, as a child of God, your behavior changes. We are not just animals driven by our compulsions. We make choices about which thoughts to act on, and which thoughts to resist every day. I say embrace God’s definition of who you are. Seek Him with all your heart, and watch your desires and behavior be transformed.
_Now–go make some great choices!
