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Safe Passagesupport for those struggling with homosexuality
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1. Temptation Itself is a Normal Experience. Anyone who has healthy needs can be tempted, and in fact, Jesus experienced all the temptations that we do.
Hebr. 2:18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.
Hebr. 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Matt. 4:1, Luke 4:1-2 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of the devil.
Matt 26:36 Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
2. The moral goodness or badness of desire ("epithumeo" in the Scriptures) depends upon how it is motivated and directed
This word for "lust" can denote a healthy longing, as in Luke 22:15, where Jesus expresses a passionate desire to share a last supper with his friends before He is delivered unto death. "And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer." Another example is in Matt. 13:17, "For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see." (See also, 1Tim. 3:1, Hebr. 6:11, 1Pet. 1:12)
The scriptural terms for "desire", "lust" and "passion" can also denote an actively unheathy/ dishonouring, compulsive desire (lustful appetites or "vile affections" mentioned in Romans 1) resulting from a diseased condition of the soul. Jesus spoke of this in Matthew 5:28 in connection with a genuine standard of sexual purity, "But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." Another example is in Rom. 1:24-27 "Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves[burning] in their lust one toward another", and Rom. 7:7, 13:9 which recount the Old Testament commandments (e.g. "thou shall not covet") in the context of the Great Commandment to "Love thy neighbour as thyself." (See also 1Cor. 10:6, Col. 3:5, James 4:2)
Therefore, the Lord's answer to temptation is not stoicism ("white-knuckling it"), nor is it asceticism (needs seen as all bad and to be denied or shamed), nor gnostic detachment (denial of the healthiness and importance of physical needs as being somehow "nonspiritual").
3. Our desires imply a vulnerability to sin, but feeling desires is part of what it means to be alive--the Lord intends that we feel them honestly and responded to in healthy ways.
The following short passage, James 1:12-15, says a lot about the nature of desire and temptation. "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."
We take this together with Jesus' words on desire and longing from His Sermon on the Mount Matt. 5:2-12 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
By "poor in spirit" He means those who know that they are in need of God. Mark 2:17 "When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Also, Matt. 9:12 and Luke 5:31 with Matt. 23:27 "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness."
He cautions us to take responsibility for our vulnerabilities--not putting ourselves in positions where we are continually victimized in our weaknesses, Matt. 5:29-30, 18:18 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. (Also see Mark 9:43-5, 9:47) For example, in Gen. 39:7, Joseph fled the scene when it got too intense. Recognizing and responsibly stewarding our vulnerabilities is not necessarily denial; it is taking care of ourselves.
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