Don’t despise your good design

Satan takes no greater delight than seducing God’s people to reject His good design. This has been true from the very beginning, when the serpent sowed the earliest seeds of doubt in his deceptive utterance in Genesis 3:1: “Did God really say?”

A primary way the enemy works in our world today is sowing corruption, self-hatred, or identity confusion among image bearers. He tempts us to question basic principles in Scripture and to doubt fundamental attributes of our Creator’s nature—that He is trustworthy, sovereign, and perfect, making no mistakes in His creation.

Few issues reveal this scheme of Satan more clearly than the growing cultural confusion surrounding gender identity and the rise of so-called “gender transitions.”

Scripture teaches that men and women were made to bear God’s image in different ways. Each possesses unique qualities and propensities for honoring God, serving others, and building His kingdom. Genesis 1:27 affirms this clearly: “So God created man in his own image … male and female he created them.”

This biblical and biological reality stands upstream of many other foundational beliefs. When it is rejected, a cascade of cultural and moral confusion follows. This disillusionment and despair can take many forms: abortion, gender confusion, rejection of biblical marriage, men forsaking the vocation of fatherhood, or women rejecting the beauty of motherhood. Though these issues appear distinct, they are rooted in the same deeper problem—a rejection of God’s good design.

As a pastor, my heart breaks when I hear stories of people rejecting the way God made them. In our fallen world, there are many reasons why a person may wrestle with these feelings. But each of these cases can be compassionately and pastorally addressed with this enduring truth: Our feelings don’t dictate God’s divine design nor biological realities.

Even as believers are those who have been given new hearts in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), Scripture reminds us that our hearts remain deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9), and our minds are not fully able to comprehend God’s ways (Ecclesiastes 8:17, Isaiah 55:8-9). The reality of living in a post-Fall world means that we will all endure certain fleshly thorns (2 Corinthians 12:7), seeking to renew our minds (Romans 12:2) and remain steadfast in the face of temptation (James 1:14, 4:7), knowing that “no temptation has overtaken [us] that is not common to man” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Not only should we seek to conform our own hearts to what is true, we should desire to lovingly help others do the same. Because we believe Scripture is true, we believe God’s design is not arbitrary, but undeniably good—not only for the believer, but for the flourishing of all people.

It is out of this conviction that the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) has championed the Chloe Cole Act of 2026, a bill that seeks to protect children from drastic, irreversible procedures.

By providing parents and children the ability to bring legal action against those promoting “gender transitions” for minors, the Chloe Cole Act would effectively deter healthcare providers from pushing these dangerous interventions onto children.

Thankfully, public opinion is changing. Recently, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons withdrew prior support for pediatric surgical “gender transitions” and the American Medical Association softened its position on the practice. While I long for the day when the entire medical community fully rejects the madness of these harmful procedures—and we should pray and labor unto this end—these statements signal a positive cultural shift.

Public policy efforts that affirm biological and biblical truth remain essential. But as Christians, our ultimate mission is not political engagement alone.

In seeking to be salt and light in a sin-stricken world, we must remember both the urgency of the gospel and the goodness of God’s design. Our response to gender confusion and radical ideology should be missional and practical. As we advocate for policies grounded in the truth of God’s word, we must clearly proclaim this truth as we minister to people.

This spurs me, as a lifelong Southern Baptist, to remember the centrality of the Great Commission in all advocacy and ministry. Our world is overwhelmed with problems. But we must not forget that the greatest human problem—by far—is that sin separates us from God.

This great problem of lostness should spur Christians to be zealous for the cause of Christ. Unashamed of the gospel, we should always be prepared to give a reason for our hope. How will they know, if they do not hear?

Let us prayerfully seek to win hearts and minds to Christ in our pursuit of cultural change, urging everyone we encounter not to despise their good design, for everything God has created is, as revealed in Genesis, “very good.”