Transformed – teen devotion – June 2, 2019
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
John 13:35
Love
If you google “Christian LGBTQ” (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Questioning), you’ll find out from the links that these are two communities in opposition. You’ll find arguments full of emotion, sometimes hatred, and rarely love.
Does that bother you? Does it especially bother you that many well-meaning Christians don’t come across as loving to LGBTQ? Many times, it almost feels like Christians forget about the souls on the other side of the issue. They can be quick to quote chapter and verse but forget about love. What good comes of it when Christians speak and act this way? The apostle Paul says that speaking the truth without love only sounds like clanging cymbals even if you have the voice of an angel (1 Corinthians 13:1). What’s a Christian to do?
Our passage today is the answer: “Love one another.” First, remember that we are disciples of the One who bled and died for all people, gay or straight. Second, act in love towards all, just as Christ acted in love. Jesus showed exactly what love in action looks like in the opening of John 13. He washed his disciples’ feet. Following John 13, he showed love again. Jesus forgave his enemies and died for them, even though they rejected the truth and continued in their hardened ways. Jesus was compassionate to all, not wanting any to perish but all to come to the knowledge of the truth and embrace forgiveness through faith and repentance. Those precious souls include you and me, once enemies of God but now are his children by grace. Jesus loved in both word and action as he also spoke the truth to everyone.
Saved, forgiven, and loved, we are called to do the same: Befriend those who identify as being gay. Build a relationship with them as you look to genuinely care for them. When the opportunity comes, point them to Jesus who can save them from their sin of homosexuality.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us show love to all people, whether they are gay or straight. Help us to point fellow sinners to you and confess how much we all need your love and forgiveness. Finally, Lord, open the hearts of the people to whom we show love. May they see we are your disciples. Amen.
This devotion is part one of five devotions on the topic of LGBTQ. Be sure to come back for more insight from God’s Word on how to address this issue.
