We all have evil thoughts and desires we would like to keep neatly tucked away from the view of everyone around us, and most of us would surely cringe at the thought of anyone seeing and knowing our deepest, darkest thoughts and desires, especially the ones we have never acted on. Some of us struggle every day to keep our perverse thoughts and desires from creeping, or leaping, out of our hearts and into the reality of our actions. Some yield to their evil desires and do heinous things.
In one of the teachings of Jesus, he said, "It is not what goes into a man that defiles him but what comes out of him, for from out of the heart comes ... ", and he goes on to list many wicked things that men do. He made it clear that our sins do not come from some external source but proceed from our own heart, and we are not defiled by the mere presence of evil in our hearts, rather we become defiled when we yield to evil as it proceeds out of our heart by way of our actions. Jesus was tempted by evil desires, but he never allowed any of his temptations to become sin by manifesting into actions.
When most people think of the sufferings of Jesus they think of the beating, the crown of thorns and the nails through his hands and feet. However, Jesus' suffering included much more than just his death on the cross. Hebrews Chapter 2 speaks of how Jesus suffered when he was tempted and how he was perfected through that suffering.
At the beginning of his ministry, when he was in the desert and fasted forty days and forty nights, he suffered in the face of powerful temptation. He was tempted with pride, power, possessions and food and yet he was obedient and without sin. Later on, Jesus spoke of the incident and said, "Satan came unto me and found nothing in me". 1
In the garden, the night before Jesus was crucified, his flesh experienced great suffering in the face of his temptation to just call the whole thing off. So much so, he sweat great drops of blood. Jesus' suffering that night was no doubt far greater and more intense than all the physical pain of his crucifixion.
When we look at temptation from this perspective we can see that resisting temptation is a unique kind of suffering we can all relate too. Our flesh often craves a particular kind of sensual pleasure or fulfillment and these cravings can be so overwhelming, we feel they are nearly impossible to resist, and resisting them is indeed great suffering. Yielding to cravings for our favorite dessert may be no big deal, but when we yield to cravings that are clearly contrary to the scriptures, we become defiled, and our own conscience testifies against us.
The Apostle Peter wrote, "he who has suffered in the flesh is finished with sin". 2 This means that we overcome temptation thru the suffering of self-denial. I am sure that this is what the Apostle Paul meant when he spoke beating his body. 3 One thing we can be sure of, temptation brings with it suffering. We will either suffer resisting our temptations, or we suffer because we yielded to them.
All of us can relate to the need to deny ourselves certain indulgences, but sometimes, our desires can be so strong and constant that we fabricate rationalizations that will allow us to justify indulging ourselves. That's just what King David did with Bathsheba. He knew it was wrong to commit adultery with a married woman but his desire for her was so strong that he arranged for her husband to be assigned to the front lines of the war where he would surely be killed. His rationalization was, it won't be adultery if her husband is dead, and it's not really murder to simply assign him to the front lines, but God did not buy his rationalizations.
Many men and women try to justify yielding to there adulterous desires because "they are in love" with the person, and love could never be bad. Others indulge in their sin of choice and claim their desire is just to great too overcome. Some say God created them with their desires, so it must be okay. Society has pretty much accepted this rationalization across the board in regard to the issue of homosexuality.
Many heterosexual men will tell you that form early childhood they have craved sexual contact with every female that came into their view, but does the strength and longevity of their desire justify them being a cheat and a womanizer? And what about the pedophile who is sexually obsessed with children, or those with other deviant urges? Are they all born that way or has each one just become obsessive/compulsive in their fleshly desires and have given themselves over to an their favorite temptation? Are some born rapists, perverts and sexual predators or do they just repeatedly and continually feed their ever-increasing sexual fantasies until they are totally over taken with their own evil desires and are compelled to act on them.
Children can be sexually simulated at a very early age and in a wide variety of ways. If a little boy sees another little boy naked in the tub and is sexually stimulated, he has done nothing wrong. He only knows that the stimulation is pleasurable and he will look forward to further stimulation. However, subsequent stimulation can be even stronger and more appealing until he begins to aggressively seek further stimulation, and eventually becomes obsessed with males and male genitalia. As a result, by the time he reaches puberty, he becomes convinced he must be a homosexual because of the strength and longevity of his attraction to boys, and because other homosexuals tell him he is and that it's okay and perfectly normal. In reality, over time from early childhood, he has only become obsessive about his sexual focus, fantasies and desires until they become so much a part of him he becomes compulsive in his actions. The same can be true for a female.
If from an early age, a child manifests a pre-disposition for other abnormal or destructive behaviors like, setting fires, sexual interest in animals, mutilating animals or molesting or hurting others, the parents immediately seek psychiatric help for the child. However, in regard to homosexuality, parents often unconsciously justify and even reinforce the child's unnatural desires by their unwillingness or inability to address the issue in a constructive manner.
Why can't society see that homosexuality is no different than any other addictive behavior and is just another obsessive/compulsive disorder that generally begins in early childhood because that is when children begin to develop sexually?
Society cannot accept this for three reasons:
- Mental health professionals have had little success at helping homosexuals change their desires.
- Religion have demonized homosexuality by putting it in a category of sin all by itself.
- Many homosexuals have rationalized themselves into believing their desire is normal and that God created them that way.
Wouldn't it be convenient if we could all just say, "God created me this way." and throw ourselves into our sinful obsessions? Why should homosexuals be the only ones that can do this? Many people who have been overcome by various types of obsessive/compulsive or addictive behaviors like drugs, alcohol or sexual perversion never get to the place that they are never tempted again. Some times the urges just never go totally away. Many homosexuals would love to change, but since the temptation is so much a part of them, they cannot expect to just have their urges vanish over night. They must suffer in the flesh with the rest of us.
Many homosexuals would try to tell you that their desires and actions are personal and not destructive, but most men who have given themselves to the homosexual lifestyle have been on the receiving and/or giving end of pedophilia at one time or another, some repeatedly. Many are alienated from their families, ostracized from certain sectors of society and face many restrictions that are imposed on them. They have more health problems, are more likely to have chemical dependencies and/or suffer from depression or other psychological problems. They have a shorter life expectancy and are much more likely to commit suicide. They hate the constant emotional turmoil that goes along with homosexual behavior are guilt ridden and resentful toward God for creating them gay. They often become lonely and bitter in later years.
Most homosexual secretly wish they weren't, and they would never hope or wish that their own children would be gay. The only homosexuals that are the exception to this are those who have already violated their conscience so severely that it has become seared. At that point God allows them to be given over to strong delusion to totally believe the lie, "it's okay, God created me this way".
More to come ...
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