Hope for Struggling Christians During Pride Month – The Gospel Coalition

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June is Pride Month. For some, that means nothing. For others, it means everything. And for many Christians who struggle with same-sex attraction, the hurricane of emotions is precarious to navigate. Rainbow propaganda floods our streets and screens, tempting some to wonder if “love is love” after all.
Because of the spiritually treacherous terrain many face, I’d like to offer six encouragements to help Christians who struggle with same-sex attraction to persevere in putting to death sinful desires and holding to a biblical sexual ethic.
Nothing is more important for children of God than to hear from their heavenly Father, especially during an extreme spiritual attack. This month, millions of voices will attempt to tell you how to think. That’s why it’s dangerous to neglect your Bible. Heed the command of Romans 12:2: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God.”
The world wants to make you callous toward your Creator. God’s will is to conform you to his glorious image (Col. 3:10). Jesus says feasting on God’s Word is as essential to your spiritual survival as eating food is to your physical survival (Matt. 4:4). Child of God, turn up the volume on your Bible reading this month so you can hear your heavenly Father’s voice.
Spend extra time at his feet (Luke 10:38–42). Guard your time with him as you’d guard your most precious possessions. Don’t just survey Scripture; soak in it. Hear his promises. Heed his warnings. Trust his assurances. Memorize sections that stir your soul. Discuss what you’re reading with Christian friends. If there’s ever a time you need to feast on God’s Word, it’s now.
As you turn up your heavenly Father’s voice, mute the father of lies. Satan is a deceiver, and the world is his megaphone. Everywhere you look, colorful symbols call you to reconsider your commitment to Jesus. Celebrations of sin assure you that anything other than affirmation is oppression. Social media parades before your eyes the lie that true freedom is found outside the bounds of your heavenly Father’s loving law.
The world wants to make you callous toward your Creator. God’s will is to conform you to his glorious image.
Fasting from worldly influences should be a normal part of the Christian life. Embrace it this month. Be vigilant to shut off the world’s influence. Ask a friend to change your social media passwords to reduce the influx of deceptive messages. Abstain from shows that provoke unhealthy romantic feelings or sexual indulgence. If your company hosts Pride celebrations and you find them tempting, consider taking vacation days off. If old friends invite you to compromising parties, don’t go. Your sinful flesh only gets stronger when you feed it. So starve it by keeping your heavenly calling in view.
One of the most appealing qualities of the LGBT+ movement is the community. The LGBT+ family welcomes those who feel misunderstood and marginalized. Tales of painful pasts are met with open arms. Fierce loyalty defends each person’s right to self-expression without judgment or correction. It’s a “found family” with the “love is love” banner as their rallying point.
But not all “love” is love. Freedom isn’t found in doing all we desire. God is love, and he gives definition to true human love so we won’t be deceived by counterfeits. True love never harms another person’s relationship with God. Love leads people toward the true Jesus, not away from him.
This is why you must surround yourself with godly Christian friends who’ll encourage you to keep trusting Jesus without compromising what his Word declares. This month, fill your time with friends from your church who love Jesus. Share your story with them. Ask them to pray with you. Express your vulnerabilities and share why talking with them is scary. Sing together. Spend time outside together. Laugh, play games, and enjoy hobbies together.
Satan wants to trap you into thinking your life is empty. But when a different community looks inviting, godly Christian friends can help you weather the storm by pointing you to the only One who can fulfill your heart’s longings.
Following Jesus is costly. He tells any who follow him they must lose their lives to gain true life (Matt. 16:25). This is why self-pity’s whispers can be so tempting. You may begin to think about how difficult Jesus’s path is or about how much you’ve given up to follow him. You may think of the pain that comes with dying to desires and surrendering the hope of a “normal” life.
Guard yourself from self-pity. Though your struggle may be unique, the Christian life is costly for all. Everyone who follows Jesus is called to give up his or her entire life. And we’re called to trust he’s worth it: That his presence is more precious. That his encouragement is more enlivening. That his joy and peace cannot be taken away.
We’ve been taught to sing, “Be still, my soul: thy Jesus can repay; from His own fullness all He takes away.” Shut down self-pity by seeing Jesus as supremely precious.
Pride Month can provoke questions about your worth. But what the world thinks of you, and what you think of yourself, isn’t as important as what God thinks of you. How do you know what God thinks of you? Look at the cross. There you’ll see his love for you on full display.
On the cross, God’s love for sinners like you and me is unveiled for all to behold. Our record of debt has been nailed to the cross. Now God declares that because of Christ, every believer is loved and forgiven (Col. 2:13–15).
Pride Month can provoke questions about your worth. But what the world thinks of you, and what you think of yourself, isn’t as important as what God thinks of you.
God isn’t ashamed of you (Heb. 2:11). Your condemnation has been canceled (Rom. 8:1). Your shame and guilt are gone (Ps. 103:12). Your faults are forgotten (Heb. 8:12). Your sins have been drowned at the bottom of the sea (Mic. 7:19). Wasted years can be restored (Joel 2:25).
Keep your eyes on the cross of Christ, and be assured you’re more than your sinful desires. Jesus isn’t withholding good from you. You are beloved, saved, sealed, and kept by the God of the universe. He doesn’t offer you less than the world does but more and better love than the world can offer.
You’ll certainly see more rainbows during June. When you do, remember what the rainbow really means. Long before the LGBT+ community used the rainbow to communicate their message, it belonged to God, and he was sending a different message.
After God’s flood of judgment (Gen. 6–8), he gave a sign to Noah and all who would come after him. That sign? A rainbow. God told Noah, “I have set my bow in the cloud” (9:13). The word “bow” is the same word for the instrument of war ancient archers used to shoot down their enemies. When God set the rainbow in the sky, he declared with blazing colors, “I am retiring my weapon of war against you.”
God didn’t hang up his bow because humanity ceased sinning but because God delights in extending mercy. It was a banner of hope, declaring not that we can do whatever we want but that God gives mercy to undeserving sinners like you and me. Every time you see a rainbow in the sky, on a screen, or on a sign, remember what it really means. God has mercy on you despite your sin. Let the rainbow point you to Jesus who died for your sin and rose to help you live in true freedom.
As you put each of these encouragements into practice, remember a day is fast approaching when sin and temptation shall be no more. The celebration of Pride will give way to a celebration of the humble One who died and rose so we might truly live.
Keep your eyes on Jesus, dear saint; we’re almost home.
Do you feel yourself becoming more foolish the more time you spend scrolling on social media? You’re not alone. Addictive algorithms make huge money for Silicon Valley, but they make huge fools of us.
It doesn’t have to be this way. With intentionality and the discipline to cultivate healthier media consumption habits, we can resist the foolishness of the age and instead become wise and spiritually mature. Brett McCracken’s The Wisdom Pyramid: Feeding Your Soul in a Post-Truth World shows us the way.
To start cultivating a diet more conducive to wisdom, click below to access a FREE ebook of The Wisdom Pyramid.
Garrett Kell (ThM, Dallas Theological Seminary) is lead pastor of Del Ray Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia, and a Council member of The Gospel Coalition. He and his wife, Carrie, have six children. You can follow him on Twitter.
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