God Gave Them Up

Day 194: Romans 1:18-32

“Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.” - Romans‬ ‭1:24-25‬ ‭ESV‬‬

As Christians, we believe that God is the ultimate Designer of all that we see and do not see within our seemingly ever-expanding universe. Because He is the One who initiated and brought about everything, He also knows how everything is supposed to function.

  • Sexuality

  • Family relationships

  • Dating

  • Marriage

  • Singleness

  • Ethics

  • Love

  • Vocation

  • Purpose

You will not find any area beyond God’s expertise.

This is why when we read passages like this in Romans 1, we have to remember that God is not just giving us a preferred future. He knows what is going to be best (or worst) for us in the long run.

Still, God will give us what we want, and if we truly want to resist His purpose and His ways, we can do that. It just won't end well for us.

"An impressive modern statement of this principle of divine retribution is provided by C. S. Lewis in The Problem of Pain (1940), pp. 115f.: The lost, he says, ‘enjoy forever the horrible freedom they have demanded, and are therefore self-enslaved.‘ " - Bruce, F. F. (1985). Romans (Vol. 6, pp. 91–92)

Kathy GarnerComment