So very true. We need to remove our own splinters. God promises supernatural change aided by the Holy Spirit, but often we ignore the Spirit's promptings and reject the changes. Non-believers see our continuing sinful behaviour and call our God imaginary.

I know we will always continue to sin because of our nature, but people outside the body of Christ should see a stark difference between the lives and habits of followers of Christ and those who don't yet know Him.

Agreed... except, the oft quoted "Christian divorce rate" statistic is skewed by the fact that a higher percentage of Christians get married rather than just shacking up. You don't get divorced if you don't get married. So I think that particular piece of evidence is misleading... but clearly the case against us (me) as hypocrits is plenty strong without it.

A very true word. Golly, I'm amazed at how often I have to catch myself in calling the kettle black. The real issue isn't the homosexuality, it's the relationship with God. It's the root of salvation for all sins. I have to constantly remind myself to not focus on what they are outwardly and look deeper at who they are and who God wants them to be.

I'm so glad that I have the pastor that I do. He preaches from the pulpit that sin is sin in God's eyes. He preaches that all sin is an offense to God.

I agree with this devotion, although I also agree with Steve that the Christian divorce rate often quoted is misleading. There are a lot of people that get married in church and will fill out a form or survey that says they are a Christian, but that does not mean they follow Christ. I think for bible-believing Christians who attend church regularly, the divorce rate is much lower--certainly not the 40 to 50% that we see overall. It seems to be much more rare at my church than four or five out of every ten couples, even with the pews full of hypocrites. And, often when divorce does happen, the marriage is not reconcilable because one spouse commits adultery and walks away from the marriage.

The whole point of the old sacrifices, holy days of repentance, and finally Jesus, was that we cannot live up to what we are supposed to be. We are and cannot help but be hypocritical by simple definition. Criticizing someone for being less than perfect is no more than a waste of time.

Christains have fought against each piece of legislation that allows these sins to be legal. It's just that the devil has fought to legalize these sins one at a time starting with heterosexual activities. I'm sure that if American law could be changed to prohibit all of these activities, most Christains wuld be on board. In my household, each of these sins are held in the same regard...they are sins.

You legislate for a pluralistic society, not a Christian one. Who cares what Christians think, or Muslims, or even atheists. Your constitution is the surpreme law of the land.

Gays deserve to be as miserable as the rest of us ;)

I agree with jag, but would add that God sent us His Son to "take away the sins of the world". Only through the covering atonement of the perfect, once for all, sacrifice of Jesus, can our sins be washed away. The good news is that this is available to all who confess their sins, repent of them, put on Christ and try to walk in His footsteps. Amen?

I don't think you should be all making judgements as to what is right and wrong. The "Christian code" can not be used as the blueprint for a moral society. The Bible is not a legal book. It's not a constitution, and it is not something that can be interpreted in a modern context.

Another big problem in all this is the assumption that all of this was invented with 'you' in mind. That Christianity was invented for YOU. Beware of solicism. Don't ever think you are the centre of the world. You konw, why wouldn't a person such as of yourself would have god on his/her side? Why wouldn't a god care about what you eat, or what you drink? When you fast... But you know, it could be that the galaxies were arranged with you, specifically, not in mind.

If that is the case, all this judging of modern morality (such as homosexuality) with a 2,000 year old text is a grand waste of everyone's energy.

If there is a just god, why do we weep? Why do we tremble? Why do we fear? Maybe these emotions exist because we evolved in a way that there really is "no one" to delegate these emotions up to.

To the atheist, it seems rather, or greatly unfair, to judge what others are doing, when that act does no harm anyone else. No one can explain to me (except by quoting bible verses, it's against god, etc.) WHY gay marriage is wrong. It's not wrong.

Like it or not, the "Christian code" as you call it was the basis for establishing the morality of our country. The fabric of that basis of our society has been under attack by secular society for the past 50 years. Unfortunately, the attack has been pretty successful and the moral decay that has resulted is pretty obvious for all to see.(Abortion, murder, drug use, prostitution, pornography, child abuse, homosexuality, adultary, depravity ad nauseum).

As for judgement, for any set of laws to control a society there must be a standard of judgement. Our courts do this everyday. Final judgement, however, in the eternal sense is reserved by God for His Son. Since you don't believe in a Sovereign God of the Universe, you have nothing to fear. When you die and stand before Him, just tell him he is a myth.
Seriously, JCO, I think you come to this site to vent. I don't find anything provocative, thoughtful or particularly interesting in your attacks on Christianity. Men of much greater stature and intellect have been doing it for years so much more articulately. Enjoy sharing that misery you mentioned. We will pray for you.

Grant, first of all, you know nothing of my stature, who I am, or even what I do for a living, I persume. So don't be too quick to hand out judgement. It's not Christian of you. ;)

Christianity is not the basis of the moral code in your country. That is a MYTH. And even if it were to be true, it is not everywere. Not everywhere is the United States of America. There are other countries. There are countries, many of them, that are very secular in nature, that have lower crime rates than the USA. (Denmark, Sweeden, Canada, etc.) The USA is vastly more religious than Canada, yet the US has far greater crime, rascism, gun, and drug problems. How do you explain that?

And I don't have a problem with some of the things you mention (obviously I think murder is wrong), homosexuality being one of them. I am not gay, but I do not for a second thing it's wrong. Who am I to judge what's right for two other people? I am not them. They are not hurting me, or anyone else. They aren't hurting themselves, so what's the issue?

I'm not worried about standing before your god, Allah, or anyone else. I KNOW they do not exist. Answer me this? What is God? Explain it to me...being? A creature like us who breathes and eats? It's a "He" right? The term "male" is used to describe sperm producing animals...god's a male then? If he's not a creature, then what? Where does he live? Which part of the universe does he live in? Is he energy? But energy does not even think! You probably can not answer any of these questions, yet you claim to know the mind of God, what he's thinking, who he will judge, who's prayer's he's listening to, you attribute good things to him, yet not bad things, you think he's the great surveillence camera in the sky, yet you can not even tell me what this thing is.

I know who will be proven correct in the end. If I could travel 2,000 years into the future, I'm pretty certain all this nonsense will be gone, and no one of that era will care about being judged in an afterlife that does not exist.

Ok. One last response. I went over how God has revealed himself to all who have ears to hear two days ago. God is the uncaused, eternal, preexistent cause. For there to be something there has to be a preexistent cause. I believe that Aristotle was the first to point this out. "Out of nothing; nothing can come" God has communicated with us abundantly, as the writer of Hebrews makes clear. The philosopher Philo sought to allign Greek philosophy with Jesus teachings. One philosopher after another, one theologian after another, one scientist after another for 2000 years and you still have the same fundamental disagreement.

I have become convinced to my own satisfaction that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, and of the same essence as God. He is my Lord, my Savior and my God. This happenned by the will of God, not by my will,so I cannot really tell a non-believer how to initiate it, other than what I said above.
That should pose no threat to you. Enjoy what you have in this world. Push the envelope. There is much to be enjoyed at the carnal level. God may yet call your name. I never assume that anyone is not among the elect. "Living in the now" seems to be your basis for existence. Don't worry too much about us. We'll pray for you though. If that's a personal attack, I don't mean for it to be. I'm not a preacher. Just a Christian trying to share my faith.

I'm glad for this devotion that points out that homosexuality is not any worse in God's eyes than other sins. They are each harmful in their own ways. There are those that do not want to recognize anything as a sin anymore though. The truth of the matter is that so many of us are confused why we can't seem to find happiness. Many try to numb their feelings with alcohol,drugs or other addictions when the real root of their depression is that they have in one way or the other gotten out of God's will for their life & caught up in some kind of sinful lifestyle.Until they recognize that & not only ask for forgiveness, but also repent & turn from their sins & ask Christ to come into their life to be their Savior & Lord. Accepting Him as Lord then means to allow Him to guide & direct Your path & help You change those harmful lifestyles & find Your purpose & meaning for being in this world to begin with instead of thinking You were just created by a big bang & have no purpose because You were accidently created. Ooops I mean blown together by a big explosion.- JCO still praying for you. God bless

There are reasons why marriage should be protected that benefit secular culture, as well. First of all, only a man and a woman can create the next generation, which is critical for our survival. Marriage was set up from the beginning as the union of one man and one woman, and from this union we establish families. The family unit is the foundation of the culture. Children also do best when raised in a traditional family environment. Therefore, traditional marriage and a traditional family unit should be protected for the benefit of all, whether believers in God or not.

Grant you have expressed yourself very well and I for one am proud of how you have did it over and over. There are some who just will never believe in God and that is sad. We are only human and when we wittness to them if they don't hear us then move on. The writer expressed it very well when he wrote "do not cast your pearls before the swine," this is evident of what takes place when some of the people want to come on this site and vent their belief. I have come to the place in my life that if they just blatently tell me they will never believe then I just leave them alone, if they want to take their chances with there not being a God then have at it. I will pray for them but I just go on my way because there are others that need to hear. If a person doesn't believe and they keep coming on this site the way a couple of them do and want to argue, it is not to converse or debate, it is just to make themselves proud to see their words in print. Leave them alone and they may not go away but it will frustrate them enough till eventually they will either receive Christ as their Saviour or they will just quit bothering us. If I didn't like this site I would just quit logging on and that is good advice to these few who have problems with it. Nobody has tied them up and made them read the devotions so just either join in to praise God's goodness or log off and find a site that is more to your liking.
God bless everyone and have a good day.

This was an excellent thought provoking devotion that generated lots of good comments. I agree that sometimes I can't see clearly with that log in my own eye. I don't want to be a hypocrit but sometimes it happens. This devotion makes me feel somewhat like I am in a Catch-22 situation in that I know the supporters of gay marriage often do not see the gay lifestyle as sinful. So when they point fingers at Christians and make us aware of sin in our lives they are using our conviction of sin like an accuser who does not grant any forgiveness once sin is confessed and repented of. As Christians we say every one has sinned and Jesus can lead out of a sinful lifestyle. But how can anyone be made aware unless they are given the information to see there is another way to live? I feel gay activists just want us to keep the gospel quiet so people in the future will be unaware there is any other way to live besides the way that they prescibe. I have been friends with someone who was a supporter of the gay lifestyle and I had to back away from the friendship because I could see no way to reconcile feelings between us. I felt this was preferable to always being on the offensive and arguing with someone who seems stuck in their beliefs. I guess you could say I shook the dust off of my feet but then I wonder about what if I happened to be the only person that was a Christian friend to this person. Does the person feel like Jesus has turned His back on them? There is my Catch-22 in that I can't quite seem to find the best way but I do know Jesus is the way somehow. I guess it is just someone else's turn to try to reach this person with Christian love and I can pray for that to happen. Anyone have any suggestions of how to handle such a situation?

Janice- I don't have a good answer to your question, but I just wanted you to know that it is a GREAT question. I'd sure like to see a sea of good answers to this one - I would learn something.

Janice, why not agree to disagree and leave it at that. Don't bring up the topic or discuss it. If they bring it up, listen but don't add to the conversation. I think that would be preferable to losing a friend. Plus, showing your friend love in spite of your differences, could bring them to Christ. I just think we need to be careful about separating ourselves from non-believers or from people who don't share the same opinions. They need to see Christ in us.

Thanks TGW and FCE for your comments. I found that when I would be in the company of this person that the subjects of disagreement somehow always got brought up even if I tried to avoid the issues. So it became an uncomfortable way to spend my time. Sometimes it seems too hard to just listen to someone's opinions that are so contrary to mine without saying anything. And when someone seems to be so off track it almost seems a sin to keep letting them go on in that line of thinking without saying anything. I may in time try to reopen communication to see if I detect any changes of attitude that would enable us to reconcile. I guess with the holidays upon us it makes me miss the fun times with this friend but I am just not up for the conflict that goes along with being close. It seems that in some of these situations that people are not revealing of their leanings until you have developed feelings of friendship and then there is the revealing which becomes like a blow because it is so unexpected. I guess there was an element of deceit which was probably unintentional on the part of the other person for the sake of protecting privacy. It would be different going into a friendship with someone who you knew up front was supportive of the gay lifestyle. If this person were in need of help I would try to help them out so it's not like I have totally abandoned them but I do not choose to spend time with them which seems unproductive. I hope I have given enough information for a more clear perspective of the situation for you to think about. I do want to be acting as Jesus would act in the situation but I have not easily discerned what He would do.

Janice, I have had two types of encounters with "gay" men and women. In the first type; the person pretty much demands that I acknowledge the validity of their lifestyle. If I am not comfortable with them being fully "open" in my presence, then I am not welcome. This is fine, since those are their terms. I pass.

The second type of encounter is when it is obvious that the person/couple is/are gay. They are not going to change, but they also understand that I am not comfortable with an "in my face" relationship. In this situation, we are able to interact socially when occassions arise without either party felling uncomfortabe. It's kind of a "don't ask - don't tell" kind of thing. Some of these people are children of friends of mine, so interaction is unavoidable, like at holiday parties.

It's really not that different from having a Morman or Muslim friend or aquaintance. You just let certain dogs sleep. There is nothing to be gained by confrontation, but remember I said that it has to be a two way street; they have to be willing to be sensitive about the subject and my feelings as well. Hope this helps.

Janice, I have some family members in my wifes's and my family. They know I do not agree with their lifestyle and we agree to dissagree but it is not thrown in each others face when we are at family gatherings. I do love them and I am concerned with their salvation but I don't hang around them when their friends are there and they begin to be open with their relationship. This is a sin that has been around for thousands of years, it is not anything new, but God didn't approve of it then and neither does he now. While sin is sin there are some sins that God conciders to be an abomination unto him. There is one sin that is unforgiveable according to the Bible so we know then that some sins are more damaging to the soul than others. Try to repair your relationship with your friend and learn to choose when you will wade into deeper waters.

Thank you Grant and Jerry for your wise comments. I will think on what you said and pray about renewing a friendship. I am typically a loyal friend but this situation has been very challenging. Your thoughts are very much appreciated. God bless you.

Janice, there's an old saying that you can bring a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. You've done what you should by your friend by pointing out the truth about gay relationships. There is really nothing else you can do if they decide to not see the truth. I know my father who passed away 9yrs ago this month believed there was nothing really wrong with abortion & that it was the woman's choice. I on the other hand feel like it's the biggest scar on our nation that we allow a half million babies be what I consider murdered each year. Basically even though I vehemently disagreed with him I had to just explain my position and then let it go. I wasn't going to change his mind & he certainly wasn't going to change mine. I guess what I'm saying is that we really shouldn't so much just be concerned about changing people's minds about such things, instead we just need to pray that God will change their hearts.It is only going to be when God touches people's hearts that their positions on such matters will automatically change.

Dear JCO, I am thrilled that you are on this website. This church changed my life in ways that I cannot express. I am curious as to why an Atheist is so interested in this site and I think it is a wonderful blessing that you were led to it. Bless you.

The bible attempts to teach morals, when it was written it didn't understand homosexuality.

Shame on anyone who needs to base their morals for life _entirely_ from a book. Use some empathy, imagine being born into this world wanting the love of someone from the same sex. And being treated with such school-yard behaviour because of an outdated moral code.

Its exactly the same as damming those born with a disability. Shame on anyone who judges humans brought into the world like this. They are to be respected and treated like any other.