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This is June and we all know what that means in our nation. I live in a small town, but even here, we have a big rainbow sign displayed at our community college. We also have a group who walk in our local parades with their pride signs and multi-colored hair and outfits.
First, I want to tell you that you are loved. Not for who you think you are and how you want to be seen, but for who God knows you can be because of what He's done for you.
I also want to say that I am no better than you and you are no better than "John Doe" down the street. We are all in need of a Savior because we are all broken with a natural bent toward sin.
But here's the thing...for now we still live in a broken world. And because of all the brokenness and pain we have experienced, many are trying to find love in all the wrong places; people who have sold themselves short and accepted the unnatural as the norm because they think there is no other way.
This is nothing new. The enemy has been around for a lot longer than we have and he has perfected his tactics for destroying lives and families. Even more dangerous, he has slyly convinced many believers that acceptance is a form of love. This could not be farther from the truth.
What the enemy has done is taken his perverse pitch and wrapped it up in pride. He understands this well as he is a master of it. Pride is what got him kicked out of heaven in the first place (Ezekiel 28:12-18; Isaiah 14:12-14).
Pride is an ugly thing. Unfortunately, we all struggle with it. It is a tendency to place ourselves, our achievements, and our desires above anything and everyone else including God. Spiritually speaking, when we are prideful, we have pushed God out of the equation. In essence, we tell Him He is not welcome or we simply do not have time for Him or trust His work in our lives.
Listen, pride is nothing to be proud of. Matter-of-fact, it should bring our hearts grief because it is not God's best.
Proverbs 8:13 says, "To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech."
God links pride with evil, and that should be our first clue how grievous it is, but then there is the hijacked rainbow. The enemy loves to take the beautiful things of God and mar them into an ugly and perverted false copy.
The rainbow was given by God as a symbol of His love and promise never to flood the earth again. In Genesis 9, after God's judgment upon the wicked earth, He gave Noah and his family (and all generations) a covenantal promise, and God does not renege on His promises.
The enemy, however, took a beautiful symbol of hope and used it to symbolize an unholy and ungodly pride-filled lifestyle. The very essence of it mocks the institution of marriage created for one man and one woman for life, to bear children and raise families in stable, healthy, God-honoring homes.
There is a better way.
Chances are, if you are reading this blog, you know of someone or love someone who desperately wants to be loved and seen and heard. He or she is looking for acceptance...screaming for it, really, and has possibly jumped headlong into a lifestyle that only offers emptiness and self-hatred.
Let me just say, those you care about are never beyond the reach of the Father. No-one is too far gone or too out of reach that God cannot snatch them out of the darkness.
Keep praying. Keep loving. Keep standing for truth. The enemy may seem to have their soul at the moment, but God has the final say.
For anyone who might be smack dab in the middle of this woke culture, just know you are loved, you are seen, you are heard, and you were created for purpose. God is calling you out of your lifestyle of sin.
For the rest of us, let's keep shining for Jesus by lovingly standing for the truth. All people need to know that there is a God who can take a mixed-up mess and turn it into something beautiful and with meaning.
Though today's mantra is "Love is love," the only true love comes from the God who died for us.
Blessings,
Kristi