Marriage between a man and a woman

Part of me hates the topic of same-sex marriage because it always steps on so many toes, and there are always many angrily spoken opinions.  You can give a never-ending list of facts arguing both sides and the other will never be convinced.  I don’t pretend to know the solution.  All I know is that God loves all of his children.  I feel like Nephi 11:17

“I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.”

I know that God has said that marriage is between a man and a woman, a partnership that is meant to bring children into the world as our bodies are designed. I know that “The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan.”(The family: a proclamation to the world)

In his address to students of BYU, our past Prophet and president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Thomas S. Monson said,

“Social and political pressures to change marriage laws are resulting in practices contrary to God’s will regarding the eternal nature and purposes of marriage. Man simply cannot make moral what God has declared to be immoral. Sin, even if legalized by man, is still sin in the eyes of God.”

People get mad at our views because they think we are saying those who are gay are bad and sinful people or that we hate them.  But we aren’t saying that, there's a distinction between sin and the person.  But that aside, people will always be angry with us for saying that participating in homosexual acts is a sin.  Christ loved everyone but was very unpopular because He called out common social practices of His time as sin too.  It’s a hard pill to swallow for many, but if we are true disciples of Christ we can’t back down from what we know is true.  God and the leaders of the church don’t see those with same-sex attraction as less or bad, neither do I. But as disciples of the Lord, we must stand as defenders of marriage.  We can’t be defenders by being afraid of stepping on other people's proverbial toes.  Being defenders of marriage means openly articulating our views in respectful ways.  We don’t agree with same-sex marriage.  That’s the bottom line.  That’s not mean, that’s not hateful, that’s truth.  God will guide us on how and when to share these beliefs, and I don’t think posting an angry comment or rant on facebook is one of those ways.
We are going to get a lot of hate for what we believe, it’s not easy to be a disciple of Christ, it never has been and it will get even harder as society continues to evolve.
But Christ gives us reassurance when he says, “Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake; rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven.” (Matthew 18:7)

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