Transformation by Christ

It’s often been said we are our own worst critic. Many of us have characteristics about ourselves we wish were different. When I was younger, I often got permanents because I liked how I looked with curly hair. Eventually I stopped getting those because I grew tired of the time and expense involved. Besides that, Psalm 139:14 says, “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made...” All of us should be thankful for how God designed us.

However, we now live in a day where people are celebrated for changing their gender. This past week the media has been bombarded with reports of a former Olympic athlete becoming a woman. Bruce Jenner now prefers to be called “Caitlyn” and be addressed by feminine pronouns. Because of this gender reassignment, Jenner has been awarded this year’s Arthur Ashe Courage Award by ESPN. Even more disturbing is Jenner professing to be a Christian and claiming God gave him “the soul of a female.”

As a minister of the gospel, I cannot accept this claim. God designed Bruce as a man...period. If only he would spend more time studying the Bible. Romans 12:2 commands us to “...not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind...” It’s ironic the gay community embraces sex change operations yet they demonize former homosexuals who through God’s help overcame same-sex attraction.

One who truly submits himself to Christ becomes “a new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17) and can continue “...being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 3:18) Just yesterday, I watched a powerful testimony of a man who had lived as a woman but then realized he was living a lie.

I pray Bruce Jenner will draw closer to the Lord and again become the man he was created to be. Mutilating one’s body parts is never the solution. It’s like putting a Band-Aid on a cancer. Godly change comes from the inside out.

“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.” - Psalm 139:13 (NLT)

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