I am 19 and gay and I don’t want to go to Hell. I love God with all my heart and soul and I pray for Him to take this curse out of me but I am still only attracted to men. I have tried to be with girls but there’s no sparks or attractions there so I have decided I will just be single and a virgin my whole life and still worship God. But will God still send me to Hell for being attracted to men? I am scared I’m not worthy of His love and I don’t know how to get this curse out of me. It is truly making me miserable.
Listen: 130.4
First of all I am encouraged by your evident love of the Lord and your commitment to live a life that honors the Him. Has this love for the Lord led you to confess the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior? While many people profess to love God, it is only those who truly know Him as savior that have true salvation. John 5:24tells us the way of salvation and gives us the assurance of eternal life. It says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” If you have truly trusted Christ as your Savior, I want to reassure you that the Lord will not send you to Hell because of the homosexual feelings you have. Let’s read Revelation 20:11-13, “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.” The ‘dead, small and great’ spoken of here refers to those who refused to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior. They are spiritually dead. In life, some of these unbelievers were important and powerful, and some that were not. Still, because of their lack of faith, they all stand before the Great White Throne to be judged of God.
These spiritually dead people will see a book opened with all their deeds written therein. We read in Matthew 12:36, “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” Every deed done and every word spoken will be brought up before the Lord so that He might pass judgment. Nothing done will escape His eye! Notice that last phrase of Revelation 20:12, “…according to their works.” This shows that the Lord will condemn an unrepentant sinner for his works, not his feelings and desires. If you have an attraction to men, but you resist that temptation so that you can honor the Lord, He certainly will not judge you for that. No, in your refusal to engage in ungodly behavior, the Lord is honored. So, we see at this Great White Throne judgment that it is the unsaved people who are being judged, or condemned according to the things they have done.
Is it possible that the Lord could change your heart so that you are no longer attracted to other men? In the words of the Lord Himself in Jeremiah 32:27 we read, “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?” There is nothing too hard for the Lord to do. For a good example, let’s read 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 in the NKJV “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” Notice here that after listing several behaviors, including homosexuality, that would disqualify someone from entering Heaven, the Apostle Paul writes in verse 11, “And such WERE some of you…” Past tense! Through the power of God, many people have ceased from fornication, idolatry, homosexuality, stealing, and drunkenness among other things. Don’t let anyone tell you that the Lord cannot change your heart. He knows the heart and has been changing them since Adam and Eve were here.
In the book of Daniel, we have the incident spoken of where three young Hebrew men named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow down and worship an idol the king had made. Under the threat of being burned alive we read these words in Daniel 3:16-18, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” Notice that calm assurance of these young faithful men. They believed the Lord was able to save them from that fiery furnace, but even if He did not prevent their death, these young men still refused to dishonor the Lord by bowing down to an idol.
I pray that your resolve will be just as strong. The Lord is able to take away the temptation to practice homosexuality, but even if you must endure these feelings for the rest of your life, be strong and refuse to give in to that lifestyle that dishonors the Lord, His purpose, and His Word. (130.4)