A pastoral letter for those wanting to leave the gay lifestyle.

The apostle Paul knew people who lived the gay lifestyle and then left it. Over the years I've known a number of people, including a close friend of mine, who also left that lifestyle. I asked them why they chose to leave it. They said they wanted to live life with a clear conscience, peace of mind, and rest for their souls. They were looking for answers to loneliness and life but could not find the satisfaction they were seeking in the gay lifestyle. Even though the world kept telling them their lifestyle was no different than being born left-handed, they discovered from their conscience and God's Word that a sexual act not only involves one's body but also one's God-given soul. The Holy Spirit convinced them through the Scriptures that they were hurting their souls by going against the holy will of God (Romans 1:16-32). Finding forgiveness and a new way of life was paramount for them.

Eventually they found what they were looking for when they were led to a man hanging on a tree—a holy and chaste man, a sinless and innocent man, a man who was tempted by lust and every sin one can imagine. But this man never gave in to temptation, although he was executed for everyone who succumbed to sin—namely, every human being in the world! The man was Jesus of Nazareth, the God-man who came from above and said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10), and invites every one of us with the words, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). Jesus also told a woman caught in adultery and fearing for her life, "Neither do I condemn you. . . . Go now and leave your life of sin" (John 8:11). Jesus was not promoting sin but forgiving it and directing one to leave it for a more fulfilling life of faith and obedience.

Everyone is looking for a fulfilling life. Some try to find it in pills, a  bottle, money, power, sex, or even all of these. But the wisest man in the world, Solomon, warns that such pursuit turns out to be nothing but "chasing after the wind" (Ecclesiastes 2:11). He knew this was true from personal experience.

Satan, the world's temptations, and our own sinful desires promise that we can fill up our empty hearts with this, that, and the next thing. But it's a lie. In the end, temptations are forbidden fruit that lure us away from our Father in heaven, who created us and still loves us. They offer no rest for weary souls.

Those temptations take on many forms. Sometimes they come with relentless persistence. Such temptations may be lust for the opposite sex, lust for the same sex, revenge on someone we hate, bitterness against others, fear of the future, jealousy, or self-pity because we do not have a good-looking body. At times all of these temptations seem to come at once.