16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
Later in the chapter, we are warned against hypocrisy:
20 If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
We have to make sure that our attitudes toward other people line up with the prescription in God's Word. When we encounter people who hold to a different point-of-view or faith practice, or lack thereof, we can take the position of being firm in our faith convictions, but also being willing to approach them in a non-combative way. We have to be willing to speak at the right time in the right way, under the direction of the Holy Spirit.
According to Ephesians chapter 4, we are instructed that:
(14) we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ--
16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind,
18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart...
Recently, I featured a conversation with Daniel James Devine of WORLD Magazine and WORLD News Group that provided some details of a recent study that indicated that children raised by same-sex parents do not fare as well as those raised in a traditional household. His story contained profiles of 4 individuals who share that type of background.
Well, those 4 people, who were willing to tell the story to Daniel, have not faded away into the background. They have teamed up, along with 2 others, to write a letter to Italian fashion designers Dolce and Gabbana, thanking them for speaking up for the rights of children to both a mother and a father, according to a report on the Catholic News Service website. You see, a controversy has emerged recently between the designers and those who disagree with their position.
You see, Dolce and Gabbana are homosexuals, and were considered a couple until 2005, according to another report on the WORLD website, which points out that they have focused their two recent collections on families and mothers in particular, sending a pregnant model and models with their children down the runway. And in an interview with the Italian fashion magazine Panorama, the duo supported traditional families.
They reportedly said, “The only family is the traditional one. No chemical offsprings and rented uterus: life has a natural flow, there are things that should not be changed,” adding, “We oppose gay adoptions.”
Now, Dolce did call children born through in vitro fertilization (IVF) “children of chemistry, synthetic children.” In response, legendary musician Elton John used Instagram to call for a boycott on the designers, whose apparel he formerly wore. He called the comments “judgmental” and started the hashtag “#BoycottDolceGabbana.” John has two sons through IVF with his partner David Furnish. Sir Elton said, “How dare you refer to my beautiful children as ‘synthetic,’” John said. “Your archaic thinking is out of step with the times, just like your fashions. I shall never wear Dolce and Gabbana again.”
I think that Dolce's comments about in vitro fertilization did cross a line, but should not detract from the overall premise of their comments about traditional families.
According to CNS, the Italian designers responded that they were just stating their personal views rather than judging people. In a statement, Gabbana said, "We firmly believe in democracy and the fundamental principle of freedom of expression that upholds it." He stated. "We talked about our way of seeing reality, but it was never our intention to judge other people's choices. We do believe in freedom and love."
Back to the letter from the 6 people raised by same-sex parents who are courageously speaking out: Their letter was published on the blog, askthebigot.com, whose main author was raised by her mother and her mother’s same-sex partner. She converted to Christianity in high school, and now writes about being raised within a same-sex home, and about how voices like hers are almost always silenced by the powerful gay lobby.
The letter reads that, “Every human being has a mother and a father, and to cut either from a child’s life is to rob the child of dignity, humanity, and equality.” Each of the signers plan on penning a letter to the United States Supreme Court, which is set to rule on gay marriage this summer, and said that the comments from Dolce and Gabbana provided inspiration. I think this is a great reminder that the debate over same-sex marriage encompasses much more than merely, "who you love." There are enormous implications for children and the atmosphere in which they are raised.
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According to Ephesians chapter 4, we are instructed that:
(14) we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ--
16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind,
18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart...
Recently, I featured a conversation with Daniel James Devine of WORLD Magazine and WORLD News Group that provided some details of a recent study that indicated that children raised by same-sex parents do not fare as well as those raised in a traditional household. His story contained profiles of 4 individuals who share that type of background.
Well, those 4 people, who were willing to tell the story to Daniel, have not faded away into the background. They have teamed up, along with 2 others, to write a letter to Italian fashion designers Dolce and Gabbana, thanking them for speaking up for the rights of children to both a mother and a father, according to a report on the Catholic News Service website. You see, a controversy has emerged recently between the designers and those who disagree with their position.
You see, Dolce and Gabbana are homosexuals, and were considered a couple until 2005, according to another report on the WORLD website, which points out that they have focused their two recent collections on families and mothers in particular, sending a pregnant model and models with their children down the runway. And in an interview with the Italian fashion magazine Panorama, the duo supported traditional families.
They reportedly said, “The only family is the traditional one. No chemical offsprings and rented uterus: life has a natural flow, there are things that should not be changed,” adding, “We oppose gay adoptions.”
Now, Dolce did call children born through in vitro fertilization (IVF) “children of chemistry, synthetic children.” In response, legendary musician Elton John used Instagram to call for a boycott on the designers, whose apparel he formerly wore. He called the comments “judgmental” and started the hashtag “#BoycottDolceGabbana.” John has two sons through IVF with his partner David Furnish. Sir Elton said, “How dare you refer to my beautiful children as ‘synthetic,’” John said. “Your archaic thinking is out of step with the times, just like your fashions. I shall never wear Dolce and Gabbana again.”
I think that Dolce's comments about in vitro fertilization did cross a line, but should not detract from the overall premise of their comments about traditional families.
According to CNS, the Italian designers responded that they were just stating their personal views rather than judging people. In a statement, Gabbana said, "We firmly believe in democracy and the fundamental principle of freedom of expression that upholds it." He stated. "We talked about our way of seeing reality, but it was never our intention to judge other people's choices. We do believe in freedom and love."
I want to return to Gabbana's statement about freedom of expression. He said that he and Dolce, "talked about our way of seeing reality but it was never our intention to judge other people's choices." There are those that not only disagree with their viewpoints, but apparently do not think their viewpoints should be shared, and are, like Elton John, wanting to punish them for expressing their opinion. How sad that our culture has degenerated to this point.
But, it is encouraging to recognize that all those who are gay do not buy into the radical homosexual agenda that wants to silence opposition to the lifestyle. According to a WORLD article that referenced Daniel's piece, one of the signers of that letter, who was profiled in Daniel's article, Robert James Lopez, is openly bisexual and earned a place on the Human Rights Campaign’s blacklist for his belief that children should be raised in traditional families. Lopez is quoted as saying that he believes his upbringing left him missing a parent, confused about his sexuality, and struggling in healthy relationships with the opposite sex.
For us as believers, we have to be willing to engage in dialogue about God's truth regarding sexuality, holding firm to that truth, with a non-combative tone. We recognize that we are all sinners in need of a Savior, and our approach to other people, even those with whom we disagree, can be powerful in communicating the love of Christ, which can overpower and change a person that is confused or struggling.
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