Conversations about sex and gender are front and center this month. Consequently, our children and teens. . . and even ourselves. . . are swimming in a directive cultural soup that maps out what to believe about sex gender, along with how to live our understanding of sex and gender. Is the culture getting it right? Sadly, not usually.
As parents and youth workers, we must use our voices to teach our children and teens what God really did say if we hope to help them find their way through the cultural narrative’s lies on sex and gender. At the very minimum, there are 10 truths on sex and gender God’s Word we must continually teach and talk about with our children and teens. While not exhaustive on the matter of sex and gender, they are foundational to setting our kids on a lifetime journey of glorifying God through knowing and doing His will for sex and gender. Over the course of the coming couple of weeks, I will be stating these truths one-at-a-time as a brief sentence. The descriptions that follow each are included to help you unpack and explain God’s revealed will on sex and gender. Here’s the first truth. . .
God is our loving authority on sex and gender. As Christians, we are called to follow the way and will of God as contained in the Bible, which is the Word of God revealed and written as God’s authoritative rule for all matters of faith and practice. The Bible is the Christian’s authority. The culture teaches that we are to live under no other authority except the authority of ourselves. The cultural mantras “you do you” and “follow your heart” teach us to live under the authority of our own personal desires, feelings, and intuition. But God calls us to deny ourselves and our untrustworthy intuitions, and instead live under His loving and life-giving authority. God tells us that our hearts are not to be trusted (Jeremiah 17:9). We should never allow our feelings to dictate and misshape our understanding of truth. The Bible is God’s gift to us which teaches God’s plan, purpose, will and way for how things are supposed to be. We are to believe and behave in ways that are firmly rooted in biblical truth (2 Timothy 3:10-17). Judge your feelings by Scripture, rather than judging Scripture by your feelings.
To download a helpful handout, “God’s Plan For Sex and Gender: 10 Teaching Points For Home and Church” , click here.
Here’s a great sermon on sexuality from Tim Keller. . .