Me, Being Me
We had an interesting Family Home Evening (FHE) on Monday night. We discussed Church policies, which is always good, since we're part of the Church and we talk about the commandments all the time, but when do we discuss the policies? It was interesting. One of the policies we discussed was on homosexuality. As we sat and discussed the Church's policy on homosexuality, the Bishopric member who was running the meeting brought up an interesting thought that I have heard from many. He said something along the following:
"This has always been a hard one for me. Why would the Lord send us down here and tell us to live chaste lives, command that marriage is between a man and a woman, and then give people same sex attraction? That doesn't seem fair."
And me, being me..... said something. I said something, because when I hear this, which I've heard a lot, I hear the following:
"Why would God give someone a trial? That's not fair."
And this is what I said in response to that question:
"Well, many people who don't have same-sex attraction have that same command given to them - keep the law of chastity- and they have to go through containing their urges and making sure to obey the commandments of God just as much as anyone. Look at Sheri Dew - I'm sure she's wanted to get married, and yet that hasn't happened, and yet she's still living that commandment."
You should have seen the looks of wonder on peoples faces. I think many people forget that part of the trial; they think it's unfair for someone to suffer from same-sex attraction and not get to act on it, and yet, look at all those who don't get married. We are commanded to control our urges too. We are told that sexual relations are only acceptable in the bonds of matrimony, and that marriage is between a man and a woman, so even though I want to have sex (let's just put that out there plainly), I do not, because I am not married. That's the simple principle. It's not about our trials, or how hard they are, or how unfair they seem;
It's about keeping God's commandments.
That. That is the reason we do what we do, regardless of the trials. Regardless of how hard life is, or how unfair it may seem, we keep those commandments because we are God's children, and God is a loving Heavenly Father. Of all the names He could go by, He chooses to be called Heavenly Father. Why is that? Because we are His children, and He loves us.
"Thou art not yet as Job" does not just apply to the trials that are noticeable - death, job loss, health issues, car accidents, hunger, etc. It refers to all trials - loneliness, depression, infertility, same-sex attraction, etc.. These are all trials that can help us grow closer to Christ. Why would the Lord give us a (hard) trial?
Because He loves us. He wants us to draw closer to Him, to use the atonement to become the best we can. If we didn't have these hard trials, these life experiences, these moments of heartache, how could we turn to the Lord?
If the Lord answered every prayer we offered, where would faith play in there? It wouldn't. We would pray knowing it would be answered no matter what, and not have to depend on faith and trusting the Lord. Isn't faith an essential principle of the gospel, because it is the essence of agency? Those are really hard lessons to learn, and yet they are essential to life.
In this same regard, the Lord gives us trials and struggles to help us have faith and turn to Him. If we did not need Christ, we would not need to be on this Earth. If we were automatically going to be perfect, we wouldn't have had to have this Earth life experience; we could just skip it all and
jump on to eternity. - Wait, wasn't that Satan's plan? - But that's the key - WE NEED CHRIST. He's essential to our salvation, and without Him, we are truly lost.
I think we need to be careful when we get the attitude of "well, because my life is hard, I'm entitled to a different set of commandments, or no commandments at all." That is a lie that has been spread on this Earth since the beginning (Cain and Abel ringing a bell here?).
"This has always been a hard one for me. Why would the Lord send us down here and tell us to live chaste lives, command that marriage is between a man and a woman, and then give people same sex attraction? That doesn't seem fair."
And me, being me..... said something. I said something, because when I hear this, which I've heard a lot, I hear the following:
"Why would God give someone a trial? That's not fair."
And this is what I said in response to that question:
"Well, many people who don't have same-sex attraction have that same command given to them - keep the law of chastity- and they have to go through containing their urges and making sure to obey the commandments of God just as much as anyone. Look at Sheri Dew - I'm sure she's wanted to get married, and yet that hasn't happened, and yet she's still living that commandment."
You should have seen the looks of wonder on peoples faces. I think many people forget that part of the trial; they think it's unfair for someone to suffer from same-sex attraction and not get to act on it, and yet, look at all those who don't get married. We are commanded to control our urges too. We are told that sexual relations are only acceptable in the bonds of matrimony, and that marriage is between a man and a woman, so even though I want to have sex (let's just put that out there plainly), I do not, because I am not married. That's the simple principle. It's not about our trials, or how hard they are, or how unfair they seem;
It's about keeping God's commandments.
That. That is the reason we do what we do, regardless of the trials. Regardless of how hard life is, or how unfair it may seem, we keep those commandments because we are God's children, and God is a loving Heavenly Father. Of all the names He could go by, He chooses to be called Heavenly Father. Why is that? Because we are His children, and He loves us.
"Thou art not yet as Job" does not just apply to the trials that are noticeable - death, job loss, health issues, car accidents, hunger, etc. It refers to all trials - loneliness, depression, infertility, same-sex attraction, etc.. These are all trials that can help us grow closer to Christ. Why would the Lord give us a (hard) trial?
Because He loves us. He wants us to draw closer to Him, to use the atonement to become the best we can. If we didn't have these hard trials, these life experiences, these moments of heartache, how could we turn to the Lord?
If the Lord answered every prayer we offered, where would faith play in there? It wouldn't. We would pray knowing it would be answered no matter what, and not have to depend on faith and trusting the Lord. Isn't faith an essential principle of the gospel, because it is the essence of agency? Those are really hard lessons to learn, and yet they are essential to life.
In this same regard, the Lord gives us trials and struggles to help us have faith and turn to Him. If we did not need Christ, we would not need to be on this Earth. If we were automatically going to be perfect, we wouldn't have had to have this Earth life experience; we could just skip it all and
jump on to eternity. - Wait, wasn't that Satan's plan? - But that's the key - WE NEED CHRIST. He's essential to our salvation, and without Him, we are truly lost.
I think we need to be careful when we get the attitude of "well, because my life is hard, I'm entitled to a different set of commandments, or no commandments at all." That is a lie that has been spread on this Earth since the beginning (Cain and Abel ringing a bell here?).
Comments
Post a Comment