“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” — Matthew 7:12 NIV

THE GOLDEN RULE

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is a life principle taken from Jesus’ teachings. Most people modernize the statement by saying, “Treat others the way you want them to treat you.” Show respect if you want to be respected. Show kindness if you want to receive kindness. And so on. Few disagree with this reciprocal principle known as The Golden Rule. 

Jesus spoke these words in the context of God’s goodness to us. In Matthew 7:11 he says, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” God is good and gives good gifts. If we want to be like Him, we strive to avoid doing or saying anything that harms us or other people. 

Living by this principle allows the love of God to flow through us. Paul explained the practical aspects of this teaching in Philippians: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3–4).

And yet Satan, the father of lies and twister of truth, has taken Jesus’ words and reshaped them into a weapon of mass deception that wreaks havoc in the world, especially through LGBTQ+ activism and advocacy. “Treat others the way you want them to treat you” has been twisted into a distorted rainbow version:

1. Treat me the way I want to be treated no matter how delusional it is;
2. Treat me the way I want to be treated no matter how damaging it is.

NO MATTER HOW DELUSIONAL IT IS

In 2021, California law SP 132 made it possible for “transgender-identified male state prison inmates to transfer into women’s prisons based on ‘individual preference’—no hormones, surgery or time spent living as the opposite sex required.” Say you identify as female, and even if you’re in prison for sexually assaulting women, you can serve your time with them.   

In recent months a biological male, Rachel Levine, was named one of USA Today’s Women of the Year. Another biological male, Lia Thomas, won the Division I NCAA women’s swimming championship.

As absurd as the above statements may seem, they are facts. Daily we are told by LGBTQ+ activists, government officials, and media outlets that unless we accept these absurdities, we are transphobic deniers of reality.

In an interview with Robert Sanchez of Sports Illustrated, Thomas said, “I am a woman, just like everybody else on the team.” But biology says he is not a woman. As the International Women’s Forum admits, “Genetic differences cannot be eliminated by reducing testosterone.” Biologically, males have more muscle and less fat than females, larger hearts, and greater lung capacity to take in oxygen. Just look at the photo of the NCAA championship awards ceremony. One of those swimmers is not like the others. Genetics say Thomas is a biological male living under the delusion that he is a woman. 

The Bible says God is the originator of gender: “male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:28). And when he evaluated all he had made, “it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). The genders are distinct, and they are equally valuable; they are not interchangeable or mixable. To encourage people of any age to believe that gender is perceptional, not biological, is harmful to both those who embrace the delusion and those who are pressured to support it.

NO MATTER HOW DAMAGING IT IS

A second lie LGBTQ+ activists tell us is that being true to who you think you are or who you want to be is more important than any damage that belief may cause. Levine, the transgender pediatrician who now serves as the US Assistant Secretary for Health, says his guiding principle would be compassion for others and to help others to serve and to help others. “And that’s what I have really always tried to do in all aspects of my life, to consider other people and to do the best that I can to help them.” 

Yet Levine’s LGBTQ+ advocacy has adversely affected millions of students in our schools who are forced to share locker rooms with those whose biological gender conflicts with their gender preference and are subjected to a curriculum that encourages them to question their God-given gender. He supports “comprehensive sexuality education (CSE), an approach that goes beyond abstinence and safe sex to include discussion of sexual orientation, gender identification, and other health and sexuality topics.” The fact that Governor Ron Desantis of Florida signed the Parental Rights in Education bill into law last month to protect children through grade 3 from this kind of curriculum shows how far our culture has drifted from the idea that we should not do or say anything that will harm others. 

The Bible gives parents the right to determine what is best for their children and counsels parents to “bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). Surely affirming that each child is created by God and his or her gender is ordained by God is part of this instruction. To create confusion and stress about gender—to imply that God made a mistake—does not align with the Biblical teaching that each person is “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14).

FAMILIES IN PAIN

The men, women, and children who come to me for counseling speak of the excruciating pain caused by those who selfishly pursue opposite-sex identities. Here are a few of their comments:

Julie and her three sons “lived in an endless cycle of relapses and denial,” she says. “Rumors about J.M. [her husband] spread through the kids’ school. The other parents no longer allowed their children to play with mine or to come to our house. At church and at school, people’s heads swiveled to stare at us. … I had to watch my children suffer the loss of the man they knew as dad.”

Another woman said, “I can still see my son lying on the floor crying, ‘What’s wrong with my daddy?’ His heart-wrenching cry finally made me realize that his father’s behavior was hurting the entire family.”

A son says, “Dad was so involved in his own life and what he desired in his fantasy world, he forgot all about me. He could not seem to ever move past his own selfishness. It was always about him and what he needed!”

The idea that human beings can pursue delusional fantasies and embrace destructive ideologies without damaging themselves or other people is one of Satan’s greatest deceptions. God calls his followers to stand for truth as presented in the Bible. To live according to The Golden Rule, we must not back away from truth. We must “hate what is evil” and “cling to what is good” (Romans 12:9). And biological gender is, as God said, “very good.”