2 Corinthians 10:4-6 (NKJV) For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
There is an urgent need to address the identity crisis among the next generation. Underneath their claim that the older generation doesn’t accept “new things” such as discovering your gender based on feelings, there lurks a deep sense of insecurity and a longing to be loved and accepted. Therefore, parents must love their children with an unconditional love, or else they will look for love elsewhere, and it is dangerous because they may not be able to differentiate between their feelings and the desire to be loved. This confusion will exacerbate when they are fed with wrong teachings that affirm their feelings are real and correct.
The struggle with their feelings is perhaps the biggest challenge faced by those confused with their genders, but what is really happening is they are living out of their soul. We are made up of spirit, soul and body. Because unbelievers are not empowered by the Holy Spirit and are separated from God, they live lives based on the soul which is self-centred. By doing whatever feels good, they are being held bondage by the sin nature.
Those who worshipped the goddess of Diana in Ephesus were under the same influences of the world. There were temple prostitutes and all kinds of evil under the sun. Influenced by the demonic hierarchy and led by their feelings and dictations of their senses through the body, the people’s minds were filled with sinful thoughts, and they were living in trespasses and sins. Therefore, the Apostle Paul wrote to the churches to help them renew their minds and to know the promises of God. He taught them the positional truths, especially the new creation realities, to help them overcome their bondages of sexual sins.
The LGBTQ movement is being advocated through social media and pop culture. If parents don’t teach their children the right values in their formative years, they will be subject to wrong influences at a stage when they are most vulnerable. We also need to pay special attention to children from dysfunctional families or with absent parents because the lack of positive voices and role models in their lives will magnify their insecurity, longing for love and acceptance among their peers.
The weapon of our warfare is the Word of God. It acts like a light that shines into the darkness of our hearts and minds, and helps us to differentiate between right and wrong. We can pull down those arguments and feelings that make us confused about our genders even if they’ve become strongholds in our minds. Based on what the Word of God says, we can tell our minds what to think and our emotions what to feel, take captive of every wrong thought and bring it into the obedience of Christ. We can subdue those thinking and feelings with the power of the Holy Spirit.
Sermon Series: Natural or Unnatural? (PART 1 Gender Confusion)
我们有大能的武器
哥林多后书10:4-6 我们争战的兵器，本不是属血气的，乃是在 神面前有能力，可以攻破坚固的营垒，将各样的计谋，各样拦阻人认识 神的那些自高之事一概攻破了，又将人所有的心意夺回，使他都顺服基督。并且我已经预备好了，等你们十分顺服的时候，要责罚那一切不顺服的人。
解决下一代的身份危机已经迫在眉睫了。在他们声称老一辈人接受不了新事物的说法背后，比如根据感觉发现你的性别，隐藏着一种深深的不安全感，渴望被爱和被接纳。因此，父母应当以无条件的爱去爱孩子，否则他们会到别处去寻找爱，这是很危险的，因为他们可能无法区分自己的感受和被爱的渴望。当他们被灌输错误的教义，认为他们的感受是真实和正确的，这种困惑将加剧。
与自己的感觉作斗争也许是那些对自己的性别感到困惑的人所面对的最大挑战，但真真的因素是他们活在自己的魂里面。我们是由灵、魂和体所组成的。因为不信的人没有圣灵的能力，与神隔绝，他们过着凭魂而活的生命，就是以自我为中心的。他们就被罪性束缚，凭着感觉的喜好去行，。
那些崇拜以弗所女神戴安娜的人也受到世界的同样影响。在日光之下都曾有过寺庙妓女和各种各样的罪恶。在邪恶掌权者的影响下，他们被自己的感觉和身体感官所支配，思想充满了罪恶，且活在过犯和罪恶之中。因此，使徒保罗写信给教会，帮助他们更新他们的心意和了解神的应许。他教导他们地位的真理，尤其是新造的人的事实，以帮助他们胜过淫乱的罪。
LGBTQ（同性恋/双性恋/变性）运动正在通过社交媒体和流行文化得到提倡。如果父母不在孩子的早期成长阶段中教导他们正确的价值观，他们就会在最脆弱的阶段受到错误的影响。我们也需要特别关注来自不健全家庭或缺乏父母陪伴的孩子，因为他们的生活中缺乏正面的言语和榜样，会加剧他们的不安全感，渴望得到同龄人的爱和接纳。
我们争战的兵器是神的话语。它就像一盏明灯，照进我们内心和思想中的黑暗，并帮助我们分辨是非。我们可以攻破那些使我们在性别上混淆的计谋和感觉，即使他们已成为我们思想中的营垒。根据神的话语，我们可以告诉自己的头脑该想什么，告诉自己的情感该感受什么，夺回每一个错误的想法，并使之顺服基督。我们可以藉着圣灵的大能来制伏这些思想和感觉。
讲章系列：自然或非自然 (第一部分 性别困惑)
Image source: pixabay.com