Raising Children in Truth and Love:
As June booms into full swing with the promise of summer, stores have started displaying their next holiday, Pride Month. If it has a rainbow or any print of colors it will go right on display. Nothing says celebration like commercialism
Pride month can feel daunting, we are unsure if we should walk away or keep going. How do we tell our children The Rainbow now does not mean God’s promise? I would like to encourage you to use what the world is showing you as a way to open the door to those hard questions we tend to shy away from. This is in fact a great opportunity to shine a light in the darkness.
As Christian parents, our desire is to raise our children in the “discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). This means equipping them to understand the world through a biblical lens, always striving to reflect God’s truth with love and compassion. As June brings with it increased visibility for LGBTQ+ Pride Month, it we can use the time to intentionally focus on what the Bible says about identity, sexuality, and God’s design for marriage and humanity.
Being a homeschool parent I have the opportunity to present certain topics at an age appropriate time, whereas children in public schools come across them much earlier.
Growing up Slavic, sex was a taboo topic. Parents rarely discussed dating or marriage, let alone sex. These things were just expected to happen. “They will figure it out,” was the thought. Many parents passed on the responsibility hoping youth leaders would teach biblical views on sex, relationships, marriage. Gender confusion at that time was barely a thing. Sex and relationships weren’t thought to be appropriate until about age 16. Honestly, that’s years too late. In schools sex was already a topic by age 10 or 11.
Our Slavic parents are hardly to blame, they grew up in a completely different world than we did. The hard truth is, our children are growing up in a different world than us. It is important to equip ourselves to be able to approach these topics with our children and, as I like to emphasize, on time. Because if we shy away from these topics, the enemy will most definitely not. The enemy will approach our children with his lies disguised as beautifully packaged truths. It is our job to equip our children so they refuse to call evil good, good evil, and lies truth. So our children can face these lies standing firm , with the belt of truth buckled around their waist (Ephesians 13:8).
In this post I will share book recommendations to cover Biblical gender roles, books for parents to help equip you as a parents, and cover a few LGBTQ+ community slogans / lies to help you as parents, explore these themes from a sound biblical perspective. These resources aim to provide clarity, encourage conversation, and ultimately point us back to Christ.
Books For Children
Affirming your child’s God-given gender. Ages 3-10
Full color guide to help teach children God’s design for men and women and to pursue those roles. Ages 8-11
Teaches Biblical view on gender, reminding children who they really are. Ages 5-10
Helps children see that their gender is a gift from God. Ages 4-8
Using age appropriate illustrations and language this book covers basics of pregnancy, birth, and growth. Ages 3-5
Using age-appropriate language and illustrations, this book introduces children to: basics of sex, body changes, conception, pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding. Ages 5-8
Using Age Appropriate language this book covers God’s design for sex and marriage, body changes, sexual pressure, pornography, shows, same-sex, purity. Ages 8-12
Helpful books for the parent
Top 3 slogans
1. Love is Love
What does it actually mean? It is often used to advocate for the acceptance and normalization of LGBTQ+ relationships and same sex marriages. Basically any expression of Love (including sex) between two consenting indivduals is valid regardless of its alignment with Biblical principals.
The Problem: Critical argue that the slogan reduces love to a subjective feeling, and often demanding acceptance. This demand tends to erase the line of common sense. Where do we draw the line morally? We have seen the absurd headlines of marriage to objects and pets, as well as enormous age differences in marriages. What is to stop someone marrying a child if love is love?
The Truth: The Bible presents clear framework for sexual relationships, consistently affirming that marriage is a lifelong commitment between one man and one woman (Genesis 2:24, Mathew 19:4-6) Sexually activity out of this covenant, including acts of homosexuality, is described as sin (Leviticus 18:22, Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10). God is the ultimate source and definer of love. His love is holy and just, and it operates within the framework of His revealed will and design.
2. Everyone is Welcome
What does it mean: There is a lot of hurt and isolation in the LGBTQ+ community. This is a cry for acceptance. Whether you’re bi, gay, lesbian, drag queen, bunny or dog, you are welcome to join the community and walk down the parades during pride month.
The problem: The slogan has even started to appear in church invitations and while a church should be welcome to everyone, this slogan blurs the lines and creates the false idea that sin is affirmed and accepted.
The issue with the LGBTQ+ community is that in fact not everyone is welcome. In order to stay in the community you have to maintain a certain status/ identity, if you do not, you risk being criticised and excluded. Even more the LGBTQ+ community encourages to cut off “haters” those who do not “support” this lifestyle. Only those who endorse the LGBTQ+ community are welcome, quite contradictory to their inclusivity slogan don’t you think?
The Truth: Despite what you have been told, LGBTQ+ are welcome in church! But just like you won’t hear a pastor preaching on the goodness of being greedy, lying, gossiping, stealing, murder, and so on you should not find this sin endorsed either. Read Mark 2:13-17, Mathew 19:13-15, Mathew 8:1-15 Jesus welcomed sinners and sat amongst them. He showed love and compassion. But loving our neighbours does not mean rejecting the truth about sin. In fact it would be very unloving if we affirmed and accepted sin and did not call to repentance and conformity to God’s will.
3. LGBTQ+ Safe Space
What does it mean: This refers to a place or environment where LGBTQ+ individuals can feel secure, accepted, and free from criticism, discrimination, harassment, or any other form of emotional or physical harm. In other words, absolutely nothing triggering is allowed only affirmation and acceptance.
The problem: It creates the illusion that anything or anyone that is not affirming or accepting is an actual physical and emotional threat. Giving no room for opposing views. For example this blog post would not be considered a “safe place”
* I do not condone or dismiss the fact that LGBTQ+ individuals have been physically hurt.
The Truth: The implication of a “safe place” may affirm that one’s identity is solely defined by their sexual orientation or gender identity rather than identity in Christ (Galatians 3:38, 2 Corinthians 5:17) ultimately a Christian’s call is for conform to God’s created order.
Even though Jesus sat with sinners and the outcasts He did say “go and sin no more” ( John 8:11) : Therefore a safe space should guide individuals toward repentance and a life of freedom in Christ, obedience to God’s commands rather than affirm sin. Mathew 11:28-30 says “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you…. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light”
4. Equality
What it means: Along the lines of “Love is Love” it has limitless applications, currently being applied to gender identity. The good kind applies basic rights to housing, medical care, and job opportunities to LGBTQ+ individuals. The bad kind argues for equal access to bathrooms, locker rooms, shelters, and even prisons to any person with no descrimination based on their gender identity.
The Problem: The issue is not hard to see. Just taking a look at the sports level, the biological male body is different from a female body by design. You can take as many hormone blockers as you want but the issue will still stand. A biological male will still be a biological male stronger and will most likely crush a female at any competition. I highly encourage you to listen to Riley Gaines on sharing the podium with Lia Thomas a transgender female.
When we allow transwomen to compete against biological women we have virtually eliminated women from women’s sports.
Secondly the separation of men from women’s locker rooms, shelters, and prisons is for dignity and protection. Without this separation there is no way to distinguish those who identify as the opposite gender and those who are faking for their own gain. Taking away protection from vulnerable women against male predators.
The Truth: We need to understand that just because something is not “equal” does not mean it is bad /wrong. Lots of things in life are not equal. Women get more time off work for maternity. Males on average are taller and stronger than females. Me and my husband often discuss and agree that I could never do his job, and he would not be able to stay home all day. We were created for different purposes by God.
We can also point to the inequality of Christ’s death on the cross which paid for our sins. Jesus had not sinned, we have, yet he paid the price.
If we want a secular outlook; hospitals give different treatments to patients based on illness, gender, and yes even their income.
5. Love Wins
What It Means: This slogan became trendy after the U.S Supreme Court ruled in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage. It celebrates “equality” of gay marriage and retrends once again whenever a new law is passed in favor of the LGBTQ+ community. In summary it creates the idea that only the LGBTQ+ loves in the right way and anyone opposing is a bigot.
The Problem: This slogan contains one of the biggest flaws of all; Boundaries of all love are simply cultural. The problem arises when we start redefining marriage, there is nothing to stop from all sorts of craziness like a thruple, or marriage to objects, eventually potentially eliminating age requirement. It is in-fact a slippery slope. Just follow the logic, the LGBTQ+ ideology already claims that children can make their own life-altering decisions regarding their bodies. Some places have already eliminated parental consent or need for presence to medical procedures or counseling. What is to stop a child marrying an adult decades older and calling it “Love is Love” and making it legal to say “Love Wins”?
The Truth: Love did not win on June 26, 2015 (hence why pride month is in June) Love won long ago win Jesus laid his life for you, me, and all of mankind (John 3:16). No the slogan simply caves to the today’s cultural idol ( Romans 1:21-23)
Disclaimer
I do not claim to be an expert. I do not claim to be a theologian. Even though I did my best to gather and sum up my own resources for Pride month or really any talk on sexuality, marriage, relationships, and identity but take everything in this post with a grain of salt. I encourage you to dive into scripture yourself and weigh everything against The Word of God.
I did not see myself ever making posts on this topic, it came spontaneously and with each word I wanted to abandon, but something kept me going and brought to finish. I do not claim perfection here, and I will be coming back to tweak this point, I am sure many many times. I hope this serves as a starting point for parents in their quest to equip themselves rather than hideaway.
Other blog posts to consider
Prepping Your Kids For Pride Month
How to Talk About Pride Month with Your Kids