In response to the rising tide of “fake news,” one news station ran an ad campaign that featured an apple against a white background. The voice-over said, “This is an apple. Some people might try to tell you that it’s a banana. They might scream banana, banana, banana, over and over again. You might even start to believe it’s a banana. But it’s not. This is an apple.” The point being made was that facts are facts, whether we like them or not.

In the midst of great confusion about gender, the fact is God created male and female distinctly different—anatomically, physiologically, and genetically. Whether one may want to see himself or herself as something different, or even feel that they are different, their gender, as determined by God, is in their DNA and was established before they were born.

What if your child doesn’t love the body they’re in and wishes God had made them the other gender? This may be because they don’t resonate with the rigid gender stereotypes that society ascribes to men and women. Consider Esau and Jacob (see Genesis 25:27). Esau was a rugged outdoorsman, and Jacob was quiet, gentle, and preferred the indoors. The Bible never questions Jacob’s masculinity. In fact, God honored him by making him a patriarch of Israel. As parents, we should help our children accept and embrace their bodies biologically, but also embrace who God made them to be as unique individuals.