Our sexuality, which is our sexual habits and desires, affects our bodies, our minds and our feelings. And God has given us spiritual laws to make sure that our sexual relationships can be the blessing He meant it to be.
“So God created human beings, making them to be like himself. He created them male and female, blessed them, and said, "Have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the earth and bring it under their control…. That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united with his wife, and they become one.” Genesis 1:27-28 (GNT) and Genesis 2:24 (GNT).
This relationship between a man and a woman within a lifelong, faithful marriage is mentioned again and again throughout the Bible and is the only sexual relationship that is blessed by God.
After the fall, people’s pure sexual desires were made corrupt by sin, and suddenly they were ashamed of being naked. (Genesis 3:7,10-11.) Impure lusts were awakened, which would go on to plague all the following generations.
Lusts and sexual immorality
To have sexual desires is not a sin. But what is sin, is to give in to these sexual desires outside marriage, in words, thoughts and deeds. This includes having sex before you are married; having sex with anyone except with your own marriage partner; giving in to impure sexual thoughts, – and in any way giving in to homosexual desires and thoughts towards members of the same sex. This is described in both the Old and the New Testament. Some of these verses are listed at the end of this article.
The Bible calls these sexual desires outside marriage ‘lusts’. To be tempted, when these desires and thoughts come up in your mind, is not sin, but to allow these thoughts is sin.
God is the highest authority
Our personalities, our reactions, our opinions, our likes and dislikes etc. are very different. Some of these we inherited and others are influenced by our environment, circumstances, education, upbringing etc.
What is normal and acceptable in societies and cultures is changing the whole time, but God and His Word and the Spirit in His Word stay the same. When God forbade gay and lesbian activity and other sexual immorality, it wasn’t because He just wanted to make it hard for anyone. He gave that law because people had moved away from His original purpose and blessing; and what was immoral and wrong in God’s eyes then, has not suddenly become right today just because a lot of people think it’s okay and accept it.
It is a good thing in our days that there are things like freedoms and human rights that go against oppression, abuse and injustice. Every person has the right to choose their own faith, outlook on life and way of life, and that must be respected. But if we want to live as believing Christians, then we have to live as God’s Word says. The Bible gives us many promises, but also conditions, for a good and happy life. God is our Creator, and it is only His will as it is written in the Bible, that is unchanging and perfect for all time and eternity.
God will not let you be tempted more than you can stand
All people have trials and difficulties in life, both in their physical circumstances and in their spiritual life. Not living according to the homosexual feelings with which one has maybe been born or later on has become aware of, can be very hard to start with. But God blesses and helps those who choose to live only for Him. Nobody who has truly given up everything to serve God will ever regret it. God loves us and only wants the best for us.
“The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.” 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NLT).
Even if God’s Word may seem very hard and radical, God also loves each one of us, no matter who we are, what our background is, or what we have done. (Romans 6:23.) He loves each one of us more than we can understand. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, who gave his life for our sins and has shown us the way out of sin.
“Come to me, all of you who are struggling and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 (CJB).
“But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.” Romans 6:22 (ESV). It can be a hard battle, but that cannot be compared to the eternal, glorious life that God will give to those whose names are written in the Book of Life – those who have overcome. (Romans 8:18 and Revelation 3:5.) There isn’t a sin that Jesus hasn’t died for; there isn’t a temptation that God cannot give us strength to overcome. He wants to help us – let us trust Him and accept His help.
Bible verses about sexual immorality
“You must not have sexual relations with a man as you would [with] a woman. That is a hateful sin.” Leviticus 18:22 (NCV).
“Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in [practice] 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. Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (NLT).
“You have heard that it was said, 'You must not be guilty of adultery.' But I tell you that if anyone looks at a woman and wants to sin sexually with her, in his mind he has already done that sin with the woman.” Matthew 5:27-28 (NCV).
“Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body.” 1 Corinthians 6:18 (NLT).
“Marriage is to be honored by all, and husbands and wives must be faithful to each other. God will judge those who are immoral and those who commit adultery.” Hebrews 13:4 (GNT).
“Because they did these things, God left them and let them go their sinful way, wanting only to do evil. As a result, they became full of sexual sin, using their bodies wrongly with each other. They traded the truth of God for a lie. They worshiped and served what had been created instead of the God who created those things, who should be praised forever. Amen. Because people did those things, God left them and let them do the shameful things they wanted to do. Women stopped having natural sex and started having sex with other women. In the same way, men stopped having natural sex and began wanting each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and in their bodies they received the punishment for those wrongs.” Romans 1:20-32 (NCV).