How does God feel about gay people?
When it comes to the topic of homosexuality from a biblical standpoint, there are a lot of misconceptions flying around.
One common misconception is that the bible is silent on homosexuality but a quick study of the bible will prove this to be untrue as the bible touches on just about everything we deal with in life. After all, there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Throughout the Old and New Testament, the bible touches on this topic.
Leviticus 18:22 ~ You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.
Romans 1:27 ~ And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 ~ Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.
These three scriptures (of many) clearly show that homosexuality is a sin.
Another misconception is that being gay is a sin singled out by God. Many use the story of Sodom and Gomorrah as their evidence of it. Let’s first dive into why God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
Genesis 18:20-21 (CEV) ~ The Lord said, “Abraham, I have heard that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah are doing all kinds of evil things. Now I am going down to see for myself if those people really are that bad. If they aren’t, I would like to know.”
Genesis 19:12-13 (CEV) ~ The two angels said to Lot, “The Lord has heard many terrible things about the people of Sodom, and he has sent us here to destroy the city. Take your family and leave. Take every relative you have in the city, as well as the men your daughters are going to marry.”
The story of Sodom and Gomorrah starts with God (angels) visiting Abraham and telling him that the cries of people against the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah has reached him and he is going to see personally if they really are as wicked as people say. Then the angels go there and Lot (Abraham’s nephew) offers them a place to stay for the night. Then the men of the city come to bang on his door demanding Lot send those men out so they can have sex with them (without consent). Lot offers his daughters but of course, they insist on the men then so God decided to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. People take this as God punishing them just for being homosexual but that wasn’t the case at all. It was for many of their sins. Demanding to have sex with the same gender without consent was an evidence of their sins and wickedness which really was the last straw. A tribe of Israel (Benjamin) was also wiped out because they forced themselves on one woman until she died and the other members of the tribe refused to give them up for justice (Judges 19).
There are many people in the world that struggle with this sin and they believe they were born that way which gives them a leeway to indulge in it. However, God doesn’t accept this excuse because he wants everyone to deny themselves.
Luke 9:23 ~ Then Jesus said to all of them, “If anyone wants to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me”.
Romans 1:28 ~ Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done.
Be rest assured that God doesn’t hate you for being attracted to the same gender and God won’t turn you away for it either. In fact, as Romans 1:28 shows, the problem that God found with those practicing this lifestyle is that they refused to acknowledge him which made him turn around and abandon them to their lifestyle. God wants to be acknowledged in your weakness. Anyone experiencing such attraction is supposed to turn to God and seek him. Give him a chance to transform you. God wants a relationship with you.
1 John 1:8-9 ~ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
