Everyone’s “sexual orientation” was damaged in the fall. And so, a change in sexual orientation is something everyone needs.
In God’s original design, sexuality included things like: nakedness free of shame and fear, honor and dignity given and received, ability to steward sexual desire rather than be ruled by it, unquenchable fidelity between husband and wife, joy and awe in bearing and raising children. And at the center of all these was unadulterated, self-giving love.
A right sexual orientation (for both marrieds and singles) is one in which sexual pleasure is submitted to these, not the other way around. (We live in a culture that upholds sexual pleasure, self-centered gratification, and an ease of loneliness, etc. above self-sacrificing, self-giving love one to the other.)
In this light, God’s desire for your sexuality is for so much more, not less, than you readily know or experience today.
What about the question of orientation change from homosexual to heterosexual?
If homosexuality is a part of your experience, know that change doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll experience heterosexual romantic attraction just like others who have never struggled with homosexuality around you. Why? Because others’ sexual orientation is fallen and falls short of the glory of God, too. He does not “restore” someone from one kind of brokenness to another—that wouldn’t be restoration. He wants something more for you than what you see around you.
When Alan Medinger, Regeneration’s founder (who experienced a truly miraculous change in his sexual orientation literally overnight), talked about his own experience, he talked not about a new sexual desire for women in general, but rather that he fell head over heels in love with his wife, Willa, with whom he remained faithfully married for the remainder of their lives.
How many men and women would be blessed to experience this same kind of change, whether overnight or over a lifetime?
Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost. He wants to bring each person’s sexual orientation into alignment with His faithful, self-giving love—no matter if you are married or single, young or old, and no matter how your attractions currently burn.
Christ died bodily for your body and all its urges. His Passion can transform your own.
I’d love to hear from you! What do you think of the idea that everyone needs a change in their orientation? How might this perspective change how churches address these issues? Leave a comment.
Reorienting,
Josh
***This article was originally written by Josh Glaser for Regeneration Ministries***