From around about the age of 10 or 11, I became very conscious of being attracted, both emotionally and physically, to my male school friends rather than to my female school friends. I hadn’t chosen to have those feelings and I spent most of my teenage years fighting against them and tormenting myself with guilt over them.

A well-meaning Christian friend put this question to me and I confess that it made me quite angry. I was surprised by the strength of my reaction and have spent some time subsequently reflecting both on the question and my response to it. I want to focus on changing my orientation towards God, towards myself and towards others.

God is love (1 John 4:8). This truth about God is used by some people to argue that, therefore, God must approve of any relationship that our culture defines as loving. But there are two key flaws to this argument, and we discover both of them as we more fully understand what God is like.

What’s the secret to winning the battle against same-sex temptations? One of the key things I’ve learnt is to keep this struggle in perspective. Not to let it become the main thing, even though it will often press in and demand to be the main thing. So how can we do that?

Enjoying God and experiencing satisfaction in Christ are exciting elements of the Christian life. In addition to enjoyment and satisfaction though, Paul makes this assertion in 1 Timothy 6:6: “But godliness with contentment is great gain”. It is easy to panic and find ourselves without any peace of mind. How can we possibly be content?

Do you like God? The most important commandment, says Jesus, is to ‘love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength’ (Mark 12:30). Surely, I just have to get on with the business of loving him, don’t I?