I Can't Change...

[Goldon Jack]

Greetings my dear Christians !

All my life, I've never actually given any attention to religion, but it's been a year since I have been talking to a really close friend of mine who's Christian. I can tell him everything I feel or everything I think. He is very open minded, but one day, I told him I was gay. He was shocked. He told me that I will go to hell if I don't change, because it's against the will of god. I got really scared, so I tried the best I could to change. I've been praising god for the last months, I've been doing the sabbath and everything a good Christian would do. But I still can't change my sexual orientation...I was born that way, as an abomination, by god and I also can't change my destiny of going to hell...Please, tell me if I can have a bit of hope on my side.

Thank you, sincerely, Goldon.

 

[rockytopva]

My advice is to seek the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Let the Holy Spirit do the changing.

 

[crossnote]

Who died for all your sins?

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (Rom 1:16)

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
(1Co 1:18)

 

[S.O.J.I.A.]

correct, you can't change.

Going to church and being religious won't do you a lick of good.

I was a huge inappropriate content addict and I couldn't change either and going to church, reading my bible, and being an enthusiastic worshipper didn't help me one bit.

what ultimately did help and did change me was the Spirit of God when the LORD saved me. I simply cried out to him in my utter weakness and utter failure and inability to change myself, and He showed mercy. been inappropriate content free for going on 5 years from the time I was saved.

from what you're saying I'd say you indeed have hope in that instead of trying to make excuses for why God should just except you for who you are, You are trying, though in futility and in unawareness, to modify your behavior. the best thing you can do is recognize that your desire to be romantically involved with another man is indeed abominable and worthy of God's wrath and humbly cry out to Him for mercy and the power to deliver you from this(james 4:6-10).

In the meantime, do continue to do the best you can to fight these desires. surround yourself with brothers in Christ who will hold you accountable and encourage you in this fight while not condemning you to hell for a sin that doesn't make you any more worthy of hell or less eligible for God's mercy and saving grace than any other sins we all have and continue to commit(1 corinthians 10:13) Continue as well to be obedient to Him by honoring the sabbath, worhsipping Him, and doing the other things that are commanded of us to do as followers of Christ.

1 peter 5:6-7

 

[hedrick]

This is a topic on which Christians differ. Today opinion is about evenly split, with younger Christians tending to think being gay is OK and older ones that it's not. Also different theological groups have differing attitudes, with Catholics being the most accepting (even though the official position of their church rejects it) and traditional Protestants the least.

The official position of the Liberal forum (i.e. here) is that people don't need to change the sexual orientation to accept Christ. That doesn't mean all of the posting in this thread will reflect that view. *

We concede that there are places in Scripture that call it an abomination or something similar. However we think that this is because those passages are really reacting to homosexuality as it was practiced among pagans. E.g. we think Paul reflected standard 1st Cent Jewish ideas. They thought that homosexuality was something that oversexed people practiced when heterosexual sin was no longer exciting enough. We don't think homosexual Christians today are the same thing. At least not if they intend their relationships to reflect Christ just as heterosexuals do.

If you're interested in the arguments, here's a good summary: https://www.gaychristian.net/justins_view.php. (This article is fairly long.)

=============

* In case you wonder why I advised the OP to post in a group that officially accepts homosexuality, Christian Forums only allows free discussion of homosexuality in groups associated with churches that accept homosexuality. There doesn't appear to be a neutral forum in which it can be discussed.

 

[Godlovesmetwo]

...I was born that way, as an abomination, by god and I also can't change my destiny of going to hell...Please, tell me if I can have a bit of hope on my side.

No wonder gay people such as yourself reject Christianity. I think if I felt rejected by the Church I wouldn't want to stay.
There are some of us who try to take a broad view on this, despite being called heretics. To me the gospel message was to reach out to the marginalised. You seem to be marginalised so realise that there are some of us who welcome you whatever your orientation or activity.

 

[SnowyMacie]

Greetings my dear Christians !

All my life, I've never actually given any attention to religion, but it's been a year since I have been talking to a really close friend of mine who's Christian. I can tell him everything I feel or everything I think. He is very open minded, but one day, I told him I was gay. He was shocked. He told me that I will go to hell if I don't change, because it's against the will of god. I got really scared, so I tried the best I could to change. I've been praising god for the last months, I've been doing the sabbath and everything a good Christian would do. But I still can't change my sexual orientation...I was born that way, as an abomination, by god and I also can't change my destiny of going to hell...Please, tell me if I can have a bit of hope on my side.

Thank you, sincerely, Goldon.

You are not going to Hell because you are gay. We cannot change or control our sexual orientation, and God will certainty not condemn you for it. You are unconditionally loved by him.

Secondly, While it is possible to make the argument that homosexual acts are sinful, people who claim that being gay is a sin have no scriptural leg to stand on as it only talks about the actual acting out on it.

 

[CrystalDragon]

correct, you can't change.

Going to church and being religious won't do you a lick of good.

I was a huge inappropriate content addict and I couldn't change either and going to church, reading my bible, and being an enthusiastic worshipper didn't help me one bit.

what ultimately did help and did change me was the Spirit of God when the LORD saved me. I simply cried out to him in my utter weakness and utter failure and inability to change myself, and He showed mercy. been inappropriate content free for going on 5 years from the time I was saved.

from what you're saying I'd say you indeed have hope in that instead of trying to make excuses for why God should just except you for who you are, You are trying, though in futility and in unawareness, to modify your behavior. the best thing you can do is recognize that your desire to be romantically involved with another man is indeed abominable and worthy of God's wrath and humbly cry out to Him for mercy and the power to deliver you from this(james 4:6-10).

In the meantime, do continue to do the best you can to fight these desires. surround yourself with brothers in Christ who will hold you accountable and encourage you in this fight while not condemning you to hell for a sin that doesn't make you any more worthy of hell or less eligible for God's mercy and saving grace than any other sins we all have and continue to commit(1 corinthians 10:13) Continue as well to be obedient to Him by honoring the sabbath, worhsipping Him, and doing the other things that are commanded of us to do as followers of Christ.

1 peter 5:6-7

Just because someone feels romantic attraction to someone doesn't mean they want to have sex with them. No matter what the orientation, and I wish people didn't automatically equate the two.

Does every couple in love just think about sex? No. I rest my case.

You are not going to Hell because you are gay. We cannot change or control our sexual orientation, and God will certainty not condemn you for it. You are unconditionally loved by him.

Secondly, While it is possible to make the argument that homosexual acts are sinful, people who claim that being gay is a sin have no scriptural leg to stand on as it only talks about the actual acting out on it.

Finally someone gets it.

 

[S.O.J.I.A.]

people who claim that being gay is a sin have no scriptural leg to stand on as it only talks about the actual acting out on it.

matthew 5:27-28

 

[CrystalDragon]

matthew 5:27-28

Not everyone who falls in love just thinks about having sex with that person.

 

[SnowyMacie]

matthew 5:27-28

Lust does not mean attraction, even sexual attraction. It's more synonymous with coveting.

 

[archer75]

I say have full hope.

There are lots of churches where people won't give you a hard time for being gay.

Lots of Christians around. Not all the same.

 

[S.O.J.I.A.]

Does every couple in love just think about sex?

not exclusively, but to divorce sex from the aspect of a romantic relationship is to strip it of it's meaning. two people in a romantic relationship have a desire to be more than just good friends.

 

[CrystalDragon]

not exclusively, but to divorce sex from the aspect of a romantic relationship is to strip it of it's meaning. two people in a romantic relationship have a desire to be more than just good friends.

True, but some people fall in love and get married and remain celibate, or at least adopt. I think it would be great to get married one day but I don't want to have sex ever.

 

[S.O.J.I.A.]

Lust does not mean attraction, even sexual attraction. It's more synonymous with coveting.

it is in the context of the verse quoted.

 

[CrystalDragon]

it is in the context of the verse quoted.

Those in Biblical times didn't know everything about attraction, the brain, love vs sex, etc.

 

[SnowyMacie]

it is in the context of the verse quoted.

No, it isn't. If it meant attraction, that would mean we would have no escape from temptation, which in this case would be sinful in of itself. One, God always provides an escape from temptation, two, temptation is never sinful, it's the act itself that separates us from God, and three if Jesus was tempted in every way that we are tempted, he would commit the sin of lust according to your definition of it.

 

[S.O.J.I.A.]

True, but some people fall in love and get married and remain celibate, or at least adopt. I think it would be great to get married one day but I don't want to have sex ever.

marriage may not the best option for you as you would be refusing to fulfill your obligation to your husband(1 corinthians 7:3-5)

 

[S.O.J.I.A.]

No, it isn't. If it meant attraction, that would mean we would have no escape from temptation, which would be sinful in of itself. One, God always provides an escape from temptation, and two if Jesus was tempted in every way that we are tempted, he would commit the sin of lust according to your definition of it.

no he wouldn't as He didn't have an impure thought about a woman.

you don't believe Jesus was obedient to the command of 1 timothy 5:1-2?

it's quite obvious what's being said there. it says don't have sex with another person's spouse and don't think sexual thoughts about another person's spouse.

 

[CrystalDragon]

marriage may not the best option for you as you would be refusing to fulfill your obligation to your husband(1 corinthians 7:3-5)

In Biblical times, it was seen as patriarchal and women were supposed to be subservient to men. Society isn't like that anymore. Saying someone has an "obligation" like that is backwards thinking, especially if on member of the marriage is expected to force the other into something they don't want.