Share the Truth in Love

Leviticus 18:22-28 - "Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.  "Do not have sexual relations with an animal and defile yourself with it. A woman must not present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; that is a perversion. "Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled.  Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.  But you must keep my decrees and my laws. The native-born and the aliens living among you must not do any of these detestable things, for all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled. And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you.

 

The list of don’ts gets pretty explicit here…as God tells Moses to let the people know that they are to be different from the people around them. We are not to defile ourselves with sexual practices that twist the intimate relationship ordained by God in Genesis.  One must not marry or lie with a close relative…animals… or those of the same gender. They were to live an example for the pagans that practiced such things… and see these things as detestable.

 

Our world has become a place where this is more common than we care to believe...and the industry of pornography glorifies and spreads these lies to all.  Most of us can agree that marriage to a close relative is wrong….and not many have any problem accepting that one wife is God’s best way….but the common practice of homosexuality has stirred a controversy….that has separated even the best of friends that find themselves on opposing sides. God’s love calls us to keep trying…in loving…nonjudgmental ways…to share the truth of the Bible with them…until one day the spirit will make it clear to them too.

 

Oh how my heart is torn for those that have chosen this way…for the scripture of God is clear here. Satan has trapped them in a lie to themselves….and they are doomed for a life of sadness and separation from the holy father. It really doesn’t matter how they came to see it as okay…God says they must stop…or he will vomit them out.  My heart tells me to love them….and search for ways to share God’s truth…but most of the time I share this truth…they reject it.  Some that long to have relationships with God even find scripture they can twist into telling them that there is no sin in this practice.

 

And this wasn’t just a rule for God’s people in the Old Testament…one has only to read 1Corinthians 6:9…1Corinthians 6:11…1Timothy 1:10…or Jude 1:7 to find evidence that this rule was not changed after Jesus came to die for our sins.  He still calls us to separate ourselves from these ways that pervert the intimacy he designed between a man and a woman that only God joined together in marriage.

 

So…I guess I have been reminded once more that God loves all people…but he calls us to hold the truth in our hearts…and share it unwaveringly… without judging those that do not interpret the word of God as it is written here in the Old testament…and confirmed in the New Testament. We are called to love all….but to hold to the standards he set forth for us in all our relationships to others…to set ourselves apart in all that we do…and simply cite his scripture when we are asked what we believe.

 

Father...you have created me with only one purpose…to love you and share your gospel with those around me.  It is not up to me to judge others…it is up to me to share what your word says….simply…plainly. It is only your spirit that can transform their brainwashed mind…and help their heart to understand and accept the truth. Help me father to be careful that I love all people…regardless of what they believe about you…or how they interpret your words in the Bible.  Give me words of love to share with everyone…so that I may model your perfect peace and walk in your truth in all that I do. Amen.