“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
Galatians 5:16-24

One of the saddest things I have seen has been the handful of people that I went to college with that have sacrificed the truth and authority of the Scriptures in order to satisfy their own flesh or to satisfy liberal social dogmas. Where we used to sit side by side learning and preparing for ministry, today we stand miles and miles apart. We have little to nothing in common any more and they simply serve as lessons on what compromise does to us, as it slowly peels us and pulls us further and further from the truth. One rationalization at a time, one tiny step here, one little slide there, and justification for personal desire overrides the truth of Scripture in favor of satisfying self.

Again, Paul says, “So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.”

They take up ‘social’ agendas and causes desperate to make the message of Christ ‘relevant’ to the world they have embraced, rather than seeking healing for the world around them by drawing it and pointing it toward Christ. We cannot become ‘relevant’ by compromising our core. Instead, we listen and understand Jesus when He tells us that the world isn’t going to like us, because it didn’t like Him. We should expect conflict, not a gentle sublimation into one with the world.

The Christian walk isn’t about satisfying sexual desire outside of the marriage bed of one man and one woman by pushing the homosexual agenda. The Christian walk isn’t about justifying the use of the ‘Morning After’ pill and abortion (which they call ‘Women’s Reproductive Rights) rather than defending the sanctity of all life in all stages. As Christians, spending time in the Word, we plainly see that God does not approve of living out homosexual relationships, and He does not approve of murder of innocents within the womb.

But for these former classmates of mine, they have done everything possible to shift and shape Jesus and His message, warping the definition of compassion and mercy to include allowing what has traditionally been defined as deviance and sin as acceptable behavior. They see themselves as liberators of the captives and encouragers of the oppressed in some strange mockery of Jesus’ declaration from Luke 4 (and Isaiah):

“Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
Luke 4:14-21

They really see themselves in this way, liberators and freedom bringers, but in doing so, they step away from the authority of Scripture and they follow the flesh. Are there people who struggle with homosexual desires? Of course, but the answer is chastity and purity not an encouragement of unacceptable behavior. Are there people who are pregnant and do not desire to be? Absolutely, but for most of them, they made the choice to engage in sexual relationships, knowing that the propagation of the species is the primary purpose of sex. The answer, again, is not to indulge in the flesh, but to remain pure and seek out an adoption minded couple to care for the child rather than murder it…

If we really want to GoLove people for the sake of Christ, if we want to share what it means to be free and to live in the desire and plan of God, then we stand firmly in the truth as we do so. Compromise isn’t love. Encouraged deviance isn’t compassion. Creating some misshapen amalgam of faith and flesh that cannot exist is not the path of salvation that Christ showed us. Grace does not allow for sin, it stands as the remedy for sin. Love is not continuing to let a wounded person bleed. Love is bringing them to the One who can bring them restoration and wholeness.

There is so much more to say on this. Paul wrote letters and letters about this struggle. But we start first with the truth found in God’s Word, we then seek His direction and wisdom as we apply that truth to our own lives, and then His love as we share it with others. Truth comes with gentleness and respect, but it does not change itself to accommodate the wayward.