All people have a common problem. Their bodies tend to have desires that are not good in the eyes of Father God. This enemy is usually called "the flesh" or "the sinful nature" in English Bible translations. Not everyone has the same exact struggles, and not all suffer from yielding to the flesh as much as others, but everyone but Jesus Christ has sinned in some way, and that sin has something to do with yielding to unhealthy appetites of the flesh. Normally, that yielding is kind of like feeding a monster. The more you feed a monster, the bigger it gets.

Don't get me wrong. God made our bodies with certain appetites and desires for good, healthy reasons. We get hungry so that we eat and fuel our bodies. We get thirsty so that we drink and maintain our fluid balances. He made sexual desires and pleasures for us to enjoy in the context of marriage and raising families. Our flesh has to be controlled by our spirits, however, to be healthy. You see, our flesh will learn to crave whatever you feed it. If you feed it only cheeseburgers and chocolate, that is what you will crave. If you feed it more healthy food, that is what you will crave. If you routinely feed it twice the calories you need, that is what your body will crave. Appetites can be twisted and trained wrong. Satan and his minions work hard to do just that. They keep suggesting thoughts to people designed to pervert what God has done. They try to get people to turn hunger to gluttony or some other eating disorder. They try to get people to start enjoying physical sexual pleasure in any context other than the one holy context God designed it for: committed marriage. Some specialize in trying to bend people towards homosexuality. Others specialize in adultery, promiscuity, pornography of various sorts, etc. Some people take these thoughts as their own by dwelling on them, fantasizing, speaking them out, and eventually acting them out. Perhaps they are not aware of God's direction in these matters, or perhaps they don't really believe in God. Maybe they do, but they rationalize the contradictions between what the Holy Bible actually says and their actions away with rational-sounding lies. They become deceived, and start to think that they are some different kind of person that can only be homosexual or some other perversion of God's plan for them. Being deceived means that they are wrong, but don't know that they are wrong. They actually start believing the lies they have been given, and sometimes start promoting their bent towards sin as being OK or even righteous. This is a very sad state of affairs. So is deception leading to any other kind of sexual addiction, substance addiction, or perversion. Compulsive gambling, alcoholism, drug abuse, gluttony, uncontrolled fits of rage, and other manifestations of the flesh being mistrained and getting its own way are just as bad. To be honest, I haven't ever struggled with homosexuality myself. No interest. I have, however, dealt with temptation in other areas; probably including issues that some who struggle with homosexual temptations don't deal with. It is all the flesh, though, and all dangerous if not conquored in your thought life before it leads to actions that lead to death.

Sin is sin. Homosexuality is sin. It is wrong. God hates sin, but He loves the people who sin. He loves us all, even while we are still sinners. That is what we as Christians—imitators of Jesus Christ—are supposed to do, to. It is right to detest what the Bible calls sin, but it is not right to detest the sinner. It is wrong to recognize any homosexual union as being legitimate for any legal or civil purpose, and downright abominable to recognize such a union as being equivalent to a committed marriage of one man and one woman. Nevertheless, those who try to live in such a way should be loved, and the truth shared in a loving manner. I know that it is hard for many people who are in bondage to homosexual sin to accept that you can love them and hate their sin, but you can. They may not believe that you do, at least initially, but that doesn't mean you aren't doing it.

Have you ever invited a person to church that you know was openly living in a homosexual relationship? I have.

You see, the cure for homosexuality is the same as for any other sin of the flesh: the Truth of Jesus Christ. Most people are not strong enough to break any kind of addiction on their own strength, and homosexual activity is addictive. The Holy Spirit is well able to deliver people from such addictions, though. The Bible teaches that we can overcome such problems. There are many passages, but this one comes to mind:

Notice that "homosexual offenders" (those who keep practicing homosexual acts, not just those who are tempted to) are on the list of the wicked who will not inherit the kingdom of God. So are slanderers, swindlers, and thieves. So are the greedy. I haven't even finished the list, but I'm beginning to wonder if anyone is left. Thank God for the part that follows the list. "And that is what lome of you were." Past tense! There is a way out of sin traps, even traps we walk into ourselves, by the power of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of our God!