Will I be sexually attracted to children in heaven? A pedophile might wonder if they will always feel the way they do.
The answer is “No”. In heaven, our intimate relationships with others will not be defined by age and gender, but will be something much greater. To understand, we need to compare what our relationships are like now with what the Bible says they will be in heaven.
As we are now, our attraction to others is influenced by the arrangement of the neurons in our brain. We have a sexual response system, that includes a faster heartbeat, dilated pupils, and all sorts of feelings. For us pedophiles, our targeting mechanism is off, such that we react that way toward children instead of adults. Human sexuality is very complex, and there many atypical variations.
These variations are a caused by both biological and environmental factors. The Bible says that all of creation is broken and troubled, because humankind turned away from God. We suffer many things in our bodies that God never intended. One of these is pedophilia – a broken sexuality.
Heaven will be a lot different. We will have new bodies without any disabilities. Also, there won’t be sex or reproduction, because we won’t die – we’ll simply be alive. Jesus explained that people will not be married in heaven; we will still have our unique personalities (whether male or female), but sexuality won’t be like it is here on earth.
Marriage will be reserved for God and his people.
But, between each of us, there will be the possibility of intimacy and love greater than anything we ever experienced on earth. We’ll be able to see each other as we really are, and that clarity will allow intimacy we’ve not yet known. You’ll be free to be yourself – the real you – and will be known as such.
In heaven, attraction won’t have to do with sexual orientation. That will be left behind with these bodies. Instead, we will be able to know and love one another wholly.
If you would like to know more about what God is doing on earth, please see Why Did God Let Me Be a Pedophile?.