A Rant About Marriage

Marriage is a real talked about topic right now, especially in the US where people are praising states that have recently permitted 'gay marriage' and in the UK where the current government is pressing to have 'gay marriages' from 2013.

Well, I'm about to set myself up for some backlash, hate speech and grilling by explaining why marriage is, has been and should always be between a man and a woman and why governments need to back off.

#1
If you're not religious, then you're probably a fan of science am I correct? You probably think that we humans are no different to any other animals right? Well, if that's the case, then aren't we arguably NOT cut out for monogamy? If we're just animals shouldn't our mates just be means for the end of self-gratification and reproduction? In which case, why on earth would you want to create and partake in something called marriage? Something that makes you obliged to stick with the same ONE person. Forever. Even if they're undesirable. Even if they're unable to reproduce.

#2
The whole concept of marriage has been distorted. Marriage is a Judaeo-Christian constitution. Marriage was created by God to create an environment to raise children in. To create a strong bond between a man and a woman, filled with love, where both are wholly committed to each other, sharing and constructing their lives in a way that honors themselves and God. Sticking with each other NO MATTER WHAT, working through every single difficult time and overcoming every obstacle big or small. NEVER giving up, abandoning each other, never being with anyone else.

Now it seems these secular nations and governments think marriage is just a 'thing'. No one expects them to last, most people don't see the point in getting married in the first place and if you throw in the towel it's no biggie. WRONG!! If you have it in your head that marriage is just a thing after a fabulous day that you don't actually have to stick to forever, you can leave whenever you want for whatever reason, then honey you need to not get married! You also need to seriously sit down and think about what marriage is because clearly you don't understand.

#3
So, in light of us just being animals who shouldn't even be monogamous, remembering that marriage is eternally binding, that marriage is a bond between two people for the purpose of honoring themselves and God and creating a safe haven for future children: why do homosexuals think marriage is something for them?  If you're a practicing homosexual, you clearly are not religious because God is explicit in his condemnation of homosexuality (Leviticus 20:13). If you love and follow God, you don't practice homosexuality. Period. So if you are and you want to get married, why would you take a Christian rite of passage and apply it to your life and disregard the rest, including the Creator of that rite? You can't have children either (don't argue that the system allows you to adopt, you know what I mean here, it's not NATURAL that you have children, so there's no need for you to be married for the purpose of raising children).

There is no need, no reason for gays to get married. Why do you people persist? Marriage is completely inapplicable to you just like a prostate exam is completely inapplicable to a woman. Try imagining a woman demanding a prostate exam because she doesn't feel she receives equal medical treatment to men. Sound ridiculous? Well that's how ridiculous you sound when you demand 'gay marriage'. In this instance, equality does not apply to you here. There are some things in life that apply to some people and not others and as such you can't be made equal in that respect. If you want tax breaks, desecrating a Christian tradition is seriously not the way to get that.


People who are against 'gay marriage' are against it because it is not possible. You can't have a Muslim Jew, you can't have a square circle, in the same way, you can't have 'married' gay people. Marriage does not apply to homosexuals.

Living In Sin vs Being a Sinning Christian

To start this post a need to make something very clear: Christians still sin

When you become a Christian, you are still imperfect, still a sinner, still guilty of going against God's laws and still worthy of punishment and unworthy of grace.

BUT because you acknowledge your sin, realise that it is bad and put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, you receive his forgiveness even though you are unworthy. At that point, you still deserve to be sent to Hell, but you have accepted Jesus paying that price for you and thus you will not go to Hell.

Still with me so far?

This doesn't mean however that Christians can sin as much as they like because they'll still be saved. This is wrong and means you're living in sin. Christians still sin but they do not live in sin and there's a difference.

If you sin against God knowing it's wrong and doing it anyway (we all know what is right and wrong in God's eyes because he has given us a conscience) or pretending it's not wrong and doing it. You're living in sin. When you do these wrong things, maybe it's stealing, maybe it's lusting, maybe it's having sex outside of marriage, maybe it's getting drunk, you deny God and choose your own selfish desires instead of doing what He asks.

At this point you are delighting in your sin. You are not trying very hard not to do these things and slipping up every now and again. You are fully getting involved in sin, without trying to stop yourself, without feeling bad about it, without regret, but instead with actively enjoyment in the sin(s).

Christians however, do not live this way. Christians (and if they are living in sin, it shows that they are false converts and only fooling themselves) acknowledge that sin is sin. This means they don't fool themselves into pretending something is right. They know what is right and wrong and acknowledge which action goes in which category. In light of knowing what's a sin, they do everything they can not to do these things.

Because we are all born with sinful natures, we are all imperfect creatures, which means we will inevitably sin our entire lives. This won't stop. But Christians make a conscious effort to stop as much as they can. The new desires God gives us mean we no longer want to live in sin when we're Christians (Ezekiel 11:19). Then, when Christians do slip up they repent - genuinely.

Genuine repentence involves 6 steps:
1. Recognition of your sin - you know that what you did is wrong
2. Sorrow - you feel sad that you committed a sin
3. Shame - you are embarrassed that you committed a sin
4. Confession - you admit to God that you committed a sin
5. Abandoning sin - you give up that behavior and turn from it
6. Hatred of sin - you hate the sin that you've committed

And there you have a key difference between being a sinning Christian, who is saved, and being a fake Christian or non-Christian who chooses to live in sin.

For more on this topic from the Bible, please read Romans 6:12-23

If you're a Christian and you're reading this and really struggling with a sin right now, I recommend you read this verse: Romans 7:14-25

"What are you giving up for Lent?"

I've been asked this question a few times and the simple answer is "nothing". In this post I'll explain why.

We are supposed to have a relationship with Jesus every day. Our aim is to follow his example, turn from our sins, show his example in our lives and repent every day. Not just on Sundays, not just at Christmas, not just during Lent.

There is no reason to give anything up during Lent or start anything new. God doesn't want you to be able to go 40 days without coffee or without shopping or whatever, because this isn't an achievement that helps others or you grow in Christ. Unless these activities are where your time and effort goes instead of praising, worshipping and following God, you don't gain anything or benefit in any religious way from giving them up. It would be for your own reasons and not for God.

So if there's something that drains your time away from the Lord, by all means, surrender it or at least cut down on it. But again, that should be the case every day. You are fooling yourself if you think you only need to do it for Lent. If you're still sinning without repenting, but now during Lent you're doing that without drinking coffee... you're still sinning! See what I mean? That's the real and bigger issue at stake. That's what we should be addressing.

You are not any more a Christian if you give things up during Lent or any less a Christian if you don't. Our aim of discipline is to listen, obey and follow God's Word, God's plan and God's direction. Religious discipline is not about how long we can abstain from something we love to do or how long we can force ourselves to start doing something that we really don't want to do.

So, evaluate just what you're giving up and why during Lent