There is a certain ideal that I am determined to live as a married man. It is this:
To my darling wife,
If you suffer, I will suffer with you.
If you make a mistake, I will take responsibility for it with you.
If you are persecuted, I will put myself with you to be persecuted with you.
If you have a dream, I will chase it with you.
If you rejoice, I will rejoice with you.
I will not blame you nor will I speak poorly of you to other people.
I will not ignore you nor will I treat you as a lesser than I.
I will not belittle you, nor will I force you to do my will.
In short, I will love you as very best as I can, and I will be with you.
My limitations are human, and I'll have to ask you to suffer me as I make my own mistakes as well, but my love I will try to be the kind of man who is always true to God and because of faithfulness to Him I will be faithful to you. You must understand that He's the one who taught me to love other people and be with them, and I've been an imperfect student, but I am learning. You and He and I, together we will make a team, and we will run this race together.
In the end, it will have been better that, whichever paths we take, we take them together. Let's make it happen that way.
I love you, dearest.
-Dallin
Sunday, May 12, 2019
Talking About Homosexuality
There is something wrong about the way in which we talk about homosexuality. We talk about "being" gay, and I fear that this is not an accurate description of reality so much as it is a linguistic tool of the Devil designed to confuse the children of God about who they are.
Men and women are children of God, and that's the best way to define them as a whole. Who they are and what they have are two very different things.
For example, a man may be a child of God and yet have temptations to become angry with other people. Such anger is not part of the being of such a man, but rather a poor choice that he makes on occasion. We may refer to him as an angry man, but our words cannot make anger part of his identity any more than our words can darken the sun; he is simply a child of God regardless of his human temptations.
The same may be said of people who struggle with homosexual temptations. No man is gay nor is any woman lesbian, but rather they are children of God who have sexual temptations towards people of their same gender, and if we would talk about their struggle less as a problem of identity and more as an overcomable temptation then perhaps fewer people would feel isolated and alone when such temptations arise; perhaps more people would be able to find help to overcome the temptation.
Let us consider the odd assumption it is to define a person's being by the temptations which they receive. In doing so, we allow not their Creator to define them, but the Devil who wishes to destroy them, for God gave them no such temptations and defined them in no such way. Any definition of a human being which does not come from God is prone to be a lie, for Satan is a liar, but God is not. Thus, humans ought to be defined with God's terms, and not the Devil's.
As we speak of such cases in the future, let us speak of humans who have a temptation, but not humans who are by definition in contrary to the law of their Creator, for He created no such person. Let us not fall into Lucifer's trap of defining people by their temptations, but rather let us glean their identity from the One who gave it to them. From this Giver, and only from Him, will we finally know the truth of the matter, and the truth will set us all free.
Men and women are children of God, and that's the best way to define them as a whole. Who they are and what they have are two very different things.
For example, a man may be a child of God and yet have temptations to become angry with other people. Such anger is not part of the being of such a man, but rather a poor choice that he makes on occasion. We may refer to him as an angry man, but our words cannot make anger part of his identity any more than our words can darken the sun; he is simply a child of God regardless of his human temptations.
The same may be said of people who struggle with homosexual temptations. No man is gay nor is any woman lesbian, but rather they are children of God who have sexual temptations towards people of their same gender, and if we would talk about their struggle less as a problem of identity and more as an overcomable temptation then perhaps fewer people would feel isolated and alone when such temptations arise; perhaps more people would be able to find help to overcome the temptation.
Let us consider the odd assumption it is to define a person's being by the temptations which they receive. In doing so, we allow not their Creator to define them, but the Devil who wishes to destroy them, for God gave them no such temptations and defined them in no such way. Any definition of a human being which does not come from God is prone to be a lie, for Satan is a liar, but God is not. Thus, humans ought to be defined with God's terms, and not the Devil's.
As we speak of such cases in the future, let us speak of humans who have a temptation, but not humans who are by definition in contrary to the law of their Creator, for He created no such person. Let us not fall into Lucifer's trap of defining people by their temptations, but rather let us glean their identity from the One who gave it to them. From this Giver, and only from Him, will we finally know the truth of the matter, and the truth will set us all free.
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