The successful legalization of gay marriage has created a chasm between culture and people of faith who stood on God’s Word as the foundation and truth of the intended sexual relationship and marriage of man and woman. As the adage goes, if you tell a lie long enough, it becomes truth. That is where culture stands today on LGBT issues: homosexuality has become normalized and accepted as a natural design of our Creator, God.

As a result, when a person announces he or she is gay, people, communities, and churches act as if this sexual desire is normal—approved by God. Nothing is wrong. After all, the LGBT-identified person was born this way. Members of the LGBT community and their advocates attempt to shame anybody or any church that continues to stand on the fact that God created male and female to become one: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother, and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Gen 2:24 NIV). That is not a human opinion: it is the word of God, who is holy and mighty, the Creator who ensures that your heart beats and your lungs take in air.

People who question whether God intends marriage and sexual relations to be only between man and woman, should recognize the voice of the serpent in that lie. The serpent told Adam and Eve, “You will not surely die” (Genesis 3:4 NIV). He lied. He also lies when he tells us that we can choose to disregard or change God’s definition of marriage. What does God’s Word say? Do you believe it? If so, wonderful. But if you begin to believe one little whisper of the serpent, you likely will begin to question other areas of the Word of God too.

Some people believe that a person’s sexual orientation is determined by the persons’ sexual, romantic, and emotional attraction. Those desires supposedly determine the person’s identity. But God has a different concept of our identity. It’s not found in our job, sexual preference, or marital status. We are identified as His children: “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith” (Galatians 3:26). And 2 Corinthians 6:18 gives this promise from God: “And I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters” (NIV). Is that not our prayer for our lost loves ones—to know the love of God and their connection to Him?

I pray that the truth about human sexuality and identity will be revealed to you in the first-person accounts you are about to read. These stories are real. So is the power of God and what He alone has done for His precious children who came home to Him just as the prodigal son was reunited with his father:

And [Jesus] said, “There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

     “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate. (Luke 15:11–24 ESV)

This loving reunion is possible for you and your loved one. How do I know? I am acquainted with many, many, many loved ones who once lived the homosexual life but now worship their heavenly Father with a devotion that you and I may never understand. Such amazing love is evident in their singing, in their spoken gratitude, and in their desire to know Him better. As one dear friend told me years ago, “I know the muck God took me out of, and I’m so thankful!”

Can you imagine the celebration in heaven when the prodigal comes home and the joy God feels? It must be spectacular! I imagine a dazzling fireworks display and a feast that satisfy the hunger all of mankind.

Let’s pray together that your heart’s desire—and God’s—will be realized soon. May your loved one return to the loving arms of his or her heavenly Father. May the embrace their true identity as a beloved child of God.