What the church should do with those who say they are homosexuals is a long and hotly debated question. I found this article which addresses the personal side of this question from a father's perspective. It was so compassionate that I wanted to share it with you.

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My oldest daughter, Charis, is four, so hopefully we're a little while away from having any sort of sex talk. But at some point in the future, I'm sure I'll be talking to Charis, along with the rest of my kids, about sexuality, and there's the possibility that one of my kids will experience homosexual attraction. What would I do if Charis told me that she was experiencing homosexual attractions?

The first thing I'd do is give her a giant hug and tell her that nothing, nothing, nothing can ever change my love for her. She's my precious little girl, and nothing is ever going to change that. I'd thank her for telling me about her feelings and tell her that she can always tell me anything, no matter how big or small. I want my kids to feel comfortable telling me anything and to know that I won't get angry with them no matter what they tell me.

I'd tell her that God loves her even more than I do. He created her in his image, and because of that, she is precious to him. He sent his son to die for her sins, which also proves that she is precious to him.

Then I'd tell her that if she follows Jesus, her sexuality is not her identity. Her identity is rooted in Christ. She is a child of God who has the Holy Spirit dwelling in her. Her fundamental identity is not her sexual desires; her fundamental identity is as a forgiven sinner, united to Christ, full of the Holy Spirit. That's what Paul was talking about in 2 Corinthians 5:17 when he said: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."

I'd say, "Sweetie, if you follow after Jesus, your identity is as a new creation in Jesus. These desires that you're experiencing don't define who you are. Jesus defines who you are. You are his. You belong to him. That is your identity. It's who you are."

Then I'd gently take her hand and say, "Charis, following Jesus is really costly. Jesus even said that we have to die to ourselves. He said we have to take up our cross and follow him. That means submitting every facet of our lives to King Jesus, including our sexual desires. If you're going to follow Jesus, you're going to have to submit these desires to Jesus. You can't give in to them because the Bible says that any sexual expression outside of a marriage between a man and a woman is wrong."

She might ask, "Will God take these desires away from me?"

"I don't know," I'd say. "But I do know this-he'll give you the power not to give in to them. That's the beauty of the gospel. Jesus forgives all of our sins and then gives us the power not to give in to our sinful desires. And it will be hard, and it will be costly, and there will be times when you will feel lonely, but Jesus is worth it. He is so worth it. When you hear Jesus say, 'Well done good and faithful servant,' it will be worth it!"

"But why do I have these desires?" she might ask.

"Well, sweetie," I'd say. "Sin has distorted every person's sexuality. Every time I'm tempted to lust after a woman, that's a distortion of my sexuality. Every time you're tempted to lust after a person of the same sex, that's also distortion. See, you and I are the same. It just works itself out a little bit differently. We both desperately need Jesus. But the wonderful thing is, Jesus is in the process of repairing the distortions. He gives me power to not give in to lust, even though it feels really strong at times. He can give you that same power. And someday, when he comes back, everything sad and broken will finally be undone."

Then I'd say, "You know what? We'll keep talking about this, but right now, let's go get ice cream."

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You see... God is good! All the time!