Sharon Sullivan | August 14, 2023 | SHARE: 
Two realizations hit me hard the moment I held my newborn for the first time. Initially, it was the comprehension of my mother’s love for me. I had no idea that she treasured me so much, until I, too, had a child of my own to treasure. But then, holding my first baby in my arms, I understood it deeply. It’s a difficult feeling to describe to anyone who hasn’t had the experience, but in that instant, I vowed to do all I could to keep her safe and healthy.
The second realization, which arguably should have been the first, was that what God did for me through His Son on the cross was inconceivable. Jesus is not just God’s Son, but He is God’s only Son. As a new mom, and a Christian, I understood on a different level what is written in 1 John 4:9-10, that God’s love for me and all of mankind has a depth and width that is not comprehensible to the human mind. It is humanly impossible to fully know the great love and huge sacrifice God showed us in sending Jesus, His only Son, to die on the cross for our salvation.
My determination to protect and care for my daughter has never waned. God added two more children to our family, and my heart’s desire to have them grow up safe and happy was just as deep. And, such is the way of life, my children grew and with that came changes. In the beginning of motherhood, I was concerned about their sleep, diets, vaccinations, growth percentiles, and routines. Then from toddlerhood through school age, my efforts shifted to bringing them up in the Christian faith, school work, social functioning, play dates, character building, and preventing broken bones.
But then, one by one, they entered middle and high school. Raising them to be followers of Christ and to have godly morals remained goals. But, if you are a parent, you might know the trepidation of sending to school a child that has been bullied, rejected, alienated, or is lonely or awkward. Like most parents, I wanted to protect my children from these experiences too.
Part of maturing is learning how to deal with problems. And as we get older, the problems often become more complex. Today, what our youth have to deal with is much more complicated than what I anticipated as a new mother. In my wildest dreams, I would not have imagined a society that promoted comprehensive sex education, books endorsing alternative lifestyles, the trans agenda, or drag queen story time to our youngest children.
Nonetheless, this is where we find ourselves today. As these ideas have spread across our country, the debate over the issues has become mainstream conversation. However typical these discussions are, one thing is for sure, the debates are heated. Where someone lands on an issue can now brand them as phobic, bigoted, unloving and full of hate. Even the media will tell you so; as will many in Hollywood, government, academia, medicine, and possibly even your place of employment.
Today, we are seeing the effects of these influences on our children. The trans movement, for example, is doing a full court press on our society, and hitting us from all angles. As a result, there has been a sharp rise in the number of children and adolescents alleging a difference between their God-given biological sex and how they “identify.” Furthermore, no longer is the goal mere “tolerance” of this social contagion, but the full societal acceptance and forced compliance of these ideas and practices.
Part of the social contagion has included the distinction of terms like “sex” and “gender.” Ironically though, the process of removing one’s sex organs to fit a gender actually links these two terms together. There are some “scientists” who now proclaim that our gender has no scientific relevance at all, but is instead a feeling that we have about ourselves. And based on these feelings, some adults in authority over these confused yet trusting children are permitting and performing permanent, disfiguring, and sterilizing medical procedures on them.
I imagine that being a gender-confused child is extremely difficult. I imagine being a parent of a gender-confused child is beyond challenging. These parents want to see their children happy and accepted, and many of them will do whatever it takes to make that happen, including risky hormone therapies and surgical procedures that are experimental. Many parents of these struggling kids choose to support “treatments” for their child out of the fear of losing them to suicide. Their decision is fueled by unfounded messages they have heard from some “professionals” that suicide is likely without “transition treatments.”
Many, however, see gender dysphoria as a mental condition that needs time and therapy to properly heal. Many children outgrow their dysphoria, and many report that their condition was brought on by childhood trauma. Those who have detransitioned, like Chloe Cole and Prisha Mosley, are exposing the dangers of allowing our youth to make life-altering decisions while the adults they trust cheer them right off the cliff.
When we speak out against these atrocities, we are frequently told that we are hateful and trying to demoralize and hurt trans-identifying individuals. But the truth is that we are trying to protect them from life-altering puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries; especially when these procedures are done on the basis of the child and parent’s feelings. In actuality, we are loving our neighbors by speaking the truth; just as God has commanded us to in Matt 22: 37-40 and Eph 4:11-16.
As a parent, I empathize with children and their parents. However, I also believe that how a society treats its vulnerable is a good indication of that society as a whole. Do we want to be a society that performs unnatural, sinful, and dangerous procedures on our children? And what message are we sending that we would not only permit it, but celebrate it?
The objections of many Christians and others to the current gender dysphoria protocols are motivated out of love and concern for the child’s long-term well-being and happiness. The children and their parents are promised that such treatments will make them happy and fulfilled. None of this is Scriptural, and none of it is true. It is the manipulation of the child’s and parent’s feelings that leads them to make rash and life-altering decisions.
It is love that compels us to stand against the trans agenda and the procedures that are disfiguring and harming our youth. Our goal, as caring, Christian adults, should be to guide them toward better mental health and to give them time to mature, both in body and mind. Scripture is clear: God made man and woman in His image. Gen 1:27 He doesn’t make mistakes. We must show our love to the trans community by proclaiming this truth. Matt 22:37-40
POVs are point-of-view articles from NC Family Staff and contributors.
