Romans 1:26

Letters to the Faithful - Romans 1:26

Berean Standard Bible

For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.

King James Bible

For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:

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To the beloved of God throughout every nation, tribe, and tongue—to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, washed in the blood of the Lamb, and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise: grace, peace, and truth be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord. May your hearts be strengthened by the truth, your minds renewed by the Word, and your feet set firmly upon the ancient paths, even as the winds of this age blow with confusion, compromise, and deception.

Let us turn our hearts and minds with sobriety and reverence to the words penned by the apostle Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ and an apostle by the will of God. He wrote, “For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions.” These are weighty and sorrowful words. They are not the words of human judgment, but a divine declaration regarding what happens when a people persistently exchange the truth of God for a lie, when they refuse to retain God in their knowledge, and when they choose to suppress the truth in unrighteousness. This verse reveals not only a divine response to human rebellion, but a sobering progression of spiritual decline that ought to cause every believer to tremble, to repent, and to renew their commitment to holiness.

The phrase “God gave them over” is not a description of God abandoning His sovereignty or ceasing to care, but of God, in righteous judgment, allowing a people to pursue the very path they have chosen, with all of its consequences. It is not simply that they fell into sin, but that they were handed over to it after refusing conviction, resisting mercy, and rejecting the truth. This is not the beginning of rebellion, but the result of sustained defiance. It is not the flicker of temptation, but the wildfire of willful perversion, left to burn unhindered because the soul has repeatedly silenced the voice of God.

We must take this truth to heart: God’s greatest judgment is not always fire from heaven or plagues upon the land. Sometimes, His judgment is to remove His restraining hand and let a people fully indulge the lusts they have so long craved. This is terrifying, because it means a people can persist in sin until they are no longer convicted by it. They can hunger so long for evil that they cease to feel its shame. They can become so enamored with the lie that the truth becomes intolerable to them. When God gives a people over, it is not merely punishment—it is the unveiling of what their hearts have truly desired.

This is not only a historical truth about ancient societies; it is a prophetic warning for our own generation. We live in a time when dishonorable passions are not only indulged but celebrated. Perversions once whispered in shame are now shouted in pride. Practices that once called for repentance are now paraded as identity. And behind the surface-level confusion is a deeper spiritual reality: a people who have rejected the truth of God, and who now stand under the sorrowful consequence of being given over to their desires.

Yet let us remember—this descent does not begin with culture, but with the heart. It begins when truth is exchanged for a lie. It begins when the Creator is forsaken for the creature, when worship turns inward and man becomes the center of his own universe. It begins when God’s authority is denied and man’s desires are enthroned. And once that shift occurs, the downward spiral accelerates—first morally, then spiritually, and finally culturally.

Therefore, dear saints, we must not only mourn the state of the world—we must guard our own hearts. We must not look at those given over to dishonorable passions with prideful condemnation, as if we were made of better dust. Rather, let us examine ourselves to ensure we have not begun our own exchange of truth for convenience, or holiness for relevance. Let us weep not only for the world, but for the church, where compromise too often finds refuge and repentance is too rarely preached.

This passage is a call to reclaim the centrality of truth in the life of the believer. The truth of God is not subject to revision, nor to the feelings of man. It is not flexible to the spirit of the age. The truth is a Person—Jesus Christ—and He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. To follow Him is to die to self, to crucify the flesh, and to walk in obedience, even when it costs us everything. The gospel does not accommodate sin—it delivers from it. Grace does not excuse the passions of the flesh—it empowers us to overcome them.

Practical application for our time is urgent. Let every believer pursue the knowledge of God in the Scriptures with renewed fervency. Let households be built not on emotion or public opinion, but on the eternal Word of God. Let pastors preach with conviction, not compromise, and let the church shine not with the borrowed light of culture, but with the blazing truth of Christ. Let the people of God walk in purity, setting no vile thing before their eyes, refusing to entertain what God has called unclean.

We must remember that deliverance is still possible, but only for those who repent. There is no sin so deep that grace cannot reach it, but there is no repentance where truth is rejected. Therefore, we must speak the truth in love—but we must speak it. We must call people not merely to feel better, but to be born again. The gospel is not therapy for the flesh, but transformation for the soul. The call of Christ is not to affirm our identity in sin, but to receive a new identity in righteousness.

So I urge you, brothers and sisters: do not conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Be watchful, be discerning, and be unashamed of the truth. Speak it boldly, live it visibly, and suffer for it gladly, if need be. For we are not our own—we have been bought with a price. Let our lives be living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, for this is our spiritual worship.

May the God of mercy grant us the courage to stand, the humility to repent, the strength to endure, and the love to reach a world swiftly drifting. May He guard our hearts from deception and keep our lamps burning brightly until the day of His return.

To Him be all glory, dominion, and honor—now and forever.

Amen.

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O Sovereign and Holy God, our Father who sits enthroned in righteousness and truth, we come before You with reverence and trembling, acknowledging that You are the Judge of all the earth and the Defender of all that is holy. You are the Light in whom there is no darkness at all, the unchanging One whose ways are perfect and whose judgments are altogether true. We bow low before You now, not with empty words, but with contrite hearts, seeking Your face in a world that has turned from You and has exchanged Your truth for lies.

Lord, we remember with sobriety the words spoken through Your servant concerning those who have rejected the knowledge of You and were therefore given over—not merely to weakness, but to dishonorable passions, unnatural affections, and degrading behaviors that reflect the rebellion of a heart far removed from its Creator. This is no small matter, O God. It is not a mere lapse in conduct or confusion of identity—it is the result of exchanging the truth of Your divine nature for man’s twisted imagination. And we grieve, Lord, that such dishonor continues in our generation. We grieve not only what is done in secret but what is now paraded in pride and justified with hardened consciences.

O God, we plead for mercy—for ourselves, for our families, for our churches, and for our nations. Have we not also flirted with compromise? Have we not dulled our hearts with entertainment that mocks Your Word and numbs our spirits? Have we not sat silently while truth was mocked and perversion normalized? Forgive us, Lord, for the ways we have allowed the dishonor of this age to creep into our thinking, our speaking, our witnessing. Forgive us for our reluctance to call sin what it is, for fearing the backlash of man more than the judgment of God. We have been too quiet in the face of deception, too slow to speak when others blaspheme Your order, and too comfortable in a world that is swiftly unraveling under the weight of its rebellion.

Yet even now, we appeal to Your mercy, for You are still the God who redeems the broken and restores the fallen. Your grace is sufficient to transform even the darkest of lives, and Your truth is powerful to renew the most deceived of minds. You have not abandoned Your call to repentance. You are still the God who seeks and saves the lost. So we ask You, Lord, to pour out conviction upon this generation—deep, undeniable, Spirit-wrought conviction. Awaken hearts that have been lulled into numbness. Expose the counterfeit loves that masquerade as truth. Disrupt every stronghold of deception and bring a divine arresting to those who walk in open rebellion.

We pray for those who have been given over to dishonorable passions—those whose minds and affections have been darkened by the rejection of Your truth. Lord, rescue them. Intervene where deception has built its fortress. Tear down ideologies that exalt themselves against the knowledge of You. Let the light of Your truth shine in their hearts. Give them ears to hear Your voice calling them back—back to dignity, back to purity, back to Your created order and divine design. Where there is deep brokenness, let healing flow. Where shame has taken root, let grace abound. Where identity has been warped by lies, speak the name You’ve always intended for them.

We cry out for our churches, Lord. Let Your people walk in the fear of the Lord again. Let pulpits burn with truth, not merely with inspiration. Let pastors preach righteousness with boldness and tenderness. Let shepherds not feed the sheep what comforts them, but what cleanses them. Purify the bride of Christ. Cleanse her from the leaven of compromise. Let her garments be washed again in the blood of the Lamb and her testimony restored to holiness and power.

We pray for parents, for leaders, for educators, for artists, for influencers, for all who shape the hearts of the young. Let them be visited by Your presence. Let the fear of the Lord grip their hearts. Let those who promote confusion be stopped, and those who stand for truth be strengthened. Raise up Daniels in Babylon, Esthers in palaces, and Pauls on modern roads to Damascus. Raise up a generation who will not be ashamed of Your ways, who will stand even when mocked, who will live in purity when surrounded by perversion, and who will shine as lights in a crooked and twisted generation.

Lord, may Your mercy triumph. May Your truth prevail. May Your holiness be vindicated. May we, as Your people, never grow cold or complacent. May we pray not only for escape but for awakening. May we mourn not only the fruit of sin but the root of it. And may we always remember that You are not mocked, and what a man sows, he will reap. But You are also compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love. So let mercy come swiftly to the repentant, and let revival begin in the house of God.

We ask for discernment to walk rightly, courage to speak clearly, and love to reach deeply. Let our lives be testimonies of Your redeeming power—not as those who boast in our own strength, but as those who have been delivered from the very things we now speak against. Let us speak truth with tears and offer hope without compromise. Let our gospel be the full gospel—the gospel that saves the soul and sanctifies the life, that redeems identity and restores order, that confronts sin and exalts the Savior.

So now, O God, take this generation in Your hand. Shake what must be shaken. Heal what must be healed. Expose what must be brought to light. And build again the foundations that have been broken. Do not let our silence empower the darkness. Do not let our fear hinder the harvest. Send us, Lord, not as judges, but as witnesses; not as accusers, but as ambassadors of Your Kingdom. And let Your Son be exalted, for He alone can save. He alone is worthy. He alone is the answer.

We ask all this in the matchless, merciful, and mighty name of Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. Amen.