Several decades ago when a young woman found herself pregnant and unmarried, the young girl's family often sent her away to have the child alone—far from family, friends, and the shame of this unspoken sin that she had committed. She often returned home to rumors, shameful glances, and whispers.

Today the "unspeakable sin" has become the sin of homosexuality.

More than two years ago my husband and I learned that one of our adult daughters has been caught in the snares of this unspeakable sin. When we first learned of her new lifestyle, the only emotion I could feel was anger. I was angry with our daughter; her partner; and yes, even God. How could God allow this to happen? Our daughter was raised in a Christian home where daily devotions, prayer, and regular church attendance were important parts of her life. From the time our children were born we prayed that if any of them would fall away from the Lord that God would take them home to heaven while they were still in their baptismal grace. Why Lord? Why?

We immediately began sharing God's Word with our daughter and praying for her spiritual welfare. As we began to deal with her sin and our emotions, the next emotion I struggled with was guilt. As a parent, what could I have done differently? What did I not see? Were there signs that I missed? There were days when I wanted to be swallowed up in solitude so I would not have to face anyone. I wanted to wake up one morning only to find that this was some horrible nightmare. Thankfully, a dear friend pointed out to me that this was our daughter's sin, not mine.

Out of fear of this unspeakable sin, it was several months before we began to share our grief with family and close friends. It was the prayers of these dear people that began to make a difference for me. It wasn't until I was able to pray not just for our daughter but also for her partner that the Lord began to remove the anger from my heart. I began to cling to God's Word and his promises. I know that God uses all things for our good (Romans 8:28).

No Christian parents think they will ever have to deal with homosexuality in their own family. However, no one is exempt from Satan's temptations and snares. We need to prepare our high school and college youth before sending them out into this sin-ravaged world—a world that belittles those who take a stand against premarital sex and homosexuality. In today's world homosexuality is not only accepted but also flaunted in movies and TV sitcoms. Our young adults will not remember a time when homosexuality was not a socially and legally accepted lifestyle. We earnestly need to pray for and speak frankly to our young people. Homosexuality can no longer be the unspeakable sin. God speaks clearly about it: "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 6:9,10).

I know there are many Christian families grieving for a family member who has fallen prey to Satan's cunning, deceitful lies of homosexuality. We need to pray daily for those men and women so that the Holy Spirit will open their eyes to this unholy lifestyle. God assures us that with him nothing is impossible.

Thank God that when there is repentance there is forgiveness: "And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Corinthians 6:11).

Marlys Reid is a member at Peace, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.
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