To the girl who loves Jesus and likes girls,

**This post is not written to everyone; it is specifically written to the girl who loves Jesus- who is following Him in obedience- while having attraction to other girls.**

To the girl who loves Jesus and likes girls, 

My sweet sister. 

I’m sure that you have heard sermons and spiels about this- about who Jesus is and about who you are and about everything in between. And I am sure that your heart has been pulled and tugged in different directions, on different days, by different people. I am sure you have felt like you want to pull your heart out and somehow change it all around- to make life easier, and simpler, and everything that it’s not. 

And I am thinking that maybe, just maybe, you just want to sit. That you just want to sit, for a moment, and not have to think about it- to not have to wrestle it- to not have to have your mind and your heart spinning and spinning. 

I don’t know you, and I don’t know your story. 

There is so much beauty and power and strength and bravery in your story. 

And I wish I could hear every single detail. 

Oh, my sister who loves Jesus and likes girls, 

I see you. 

I don’t just see the parts of you that have to do with who you like and what you desire- 

I see you. 

Honestly, I don’t think that has much to do with your identity, with who you are deep down. 

I think sometimes, that’s all people can see- and it’s all people can think about. 

They can’t get past it. 

But- you, my friend- are just that. 

My friend. 

A friend of Jesus. 

So in this space, here, today- 

Just sit. Just stay. Just linger for a moment, be reminded that you are not who you like- I’m not, either. I am me- and you are you- and that’s it. In that simplicity, come rest. 

I am here to speak gentle words into your frail heart- into your brave heart- to remind you, to tell you of the gentleness of Jesus. 

I know, culture has made so much of all of this. Our society and our world today just can’t seem to quiet- it’s loud, loud, loud. 

But Jesus isn’t. I think that in this, in the Kingdom of God- and I don’t mean the one that will come in who-knows-how-long… I mean the Kingdom of God that is here now, tangible in this land- I think that there is space to breathe, and to rest, and not make a fuss over this, unlike the rest of this world. 

Before anything else- and I do, sister, have a few things that I want to speak into you- I want you to know that Jesus sees you- not the “you” that your parents and your friends and your little corner of the world sees- but He sees you. 

The real you- the you that goes deeper than your fears and passions and dreams and career and relationship status and money and gender and your sexuality. 

Oh, you know it- there’s a real you, that’s deeper and more real and more tangible than all of these things. 

That’s the you that Jesus sees. 

And He does not reject you. He is actually, my friend, desiring and hoping and asking to be nearer to you- because He likes you. 

There’s something about your smile; there’s somethin’ about that heart of yours- that reflects so very well the heart of God. It’s like His very fingerprints or heartbeat or His very self is in you. 

Do you remember way back when, when you heard the gospel of Jesus, and when you gave your whole messy life- anything and everything- all to Jesus? Do you remember the sweetness and the vulnerability of that moment- when you were so exposed and so loved, at the same time? Oh- take yourself back to that moment- remember and rest in that sweetness of God- that He saw all of you, stains and sins and all- and He embraced you with so much gentle, fierce love that you just couldn’t resist falling in love with Him. 

Oh, sister, He has not changed. 

And you before Him, how He sees you, has not either. 

With gentleness and sweetness, I have come to remind you of just a few simple truths that can be so easily forgotten in this chaotic and crazy of a world: 

I struggle with some things, and you struggle with other things, and the girl over there struggles with entirely different things. Don’t you dare, my sister, let anyone make you feel like you have bigger, or deeper, or more important or more severe sin than others. Because that’s not true. In the Kingdom of God- we are sinful beings, all forgiven by the blood of Jesus, by the sweet and the rich grace of God. And His blood is strong enough to cover you, and to cover me, and to cover that sweet girl over there, in all of our different shortcoming and waywardness. 

And this, the cry of my heart- being gay is not a sin. 

You can’t change your desires; you can’t change who you are attracted to. 

Being gay- being attracted to girls, when you’re a girl- is not a sin. 

I’m not speaking of lust- and I’m not speaking about sexual behavior with other girls, or about pursuing romantic relationships with other girls- those things, my friend, are things that are not in line with the heart of God and because of that, they would need to repented of, turned from. 

But being gay- simply having those feelings for other girls- having same-sex attraction- that’s not sin. It’s what you do what that desire (romantic relationships with another girl, sexual behavior with another girl, lusting after another girl, etc) that can lead to sin. 

James 1:13-14 speaks, “Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.” 

The bible never, ever says that same-sex attraction is a sin- it says that our desires, whatever they may be, can give birth to sinful actions. But these desires in themselves- are not sinful actions. 

Just as desires for someone of the opposite sex can lead us to sin- so can desires for someone of the same sex. It’s all about what we do with those desires. 

(Read Grace and Truth 1.0 by Preston Sprinkle) 

You have laid down your desires in light of the beauty of Jesus- your romantic and sexual desires, but also, your desires at large. You have surrendered your will, your way- for the sake of taking up the cross of Jesus and walking in obedience. You have decided to live out the Gospel- not the fleeting desires of your heart- and how could you do any less, because your sweet Jesus’ very hands were pierced and his ribs prodded and his very life taken- for you. You have chosen to lay down your life, in order to find real life. And I am proud of you. I am honored to stand with you. 

Sister- I am sorry for every way in which we have dehumanized you- every way in which we have villainized and over-dramatized all of this stuff. You are worth so much more than that, and I am here fighting for you. 

You may be gay, you may be attracted to other girls, but I believe in that deep and strong love you have for Jesus that’s stored up so deep in your heart. I believe in your strong, unwavering faith that believes in the Truth of the Gospel is not going to back down and shrink away from the real relationship you have with your sweet Jesus. You, my sister, are so in love with Jesus Christ, and you have been changed by the Gospel, and your life will never, ever be the same. Don’t look back. You have been marked by the love and forgiveness and mercy of Jesus, and you have been deeply filled in your heart of hearts with His very own Spirit. You are a fighter for the love of God- a fighter for the life of Jesus himself to be lived out tangibly and practically in the church. You won’t hate your enemies, and you won’t hate those who persecute and misunderstand you. You don’t hold grudges- but rather, you identify deeper and more whole-heartedly every time you heart is struck and pierced by people’s words and actions- you identify closer with Jesus, and you stand stronger in Him, and you are more filled with His love, and you love those people even deeper.

It makes no sense to the rest of the world.

How could you love people so fiercely who don’t understand you, who berate you, who hurt you, who use the tradition of religion to shame you? 

It makes no sense. But sweet sister, this is the power of the Gospel in you. 

Here and now. 

You are here, in this moment of your life, for such a time as this. 

Your same-sex attraction does not rule your life, and it’s not all you are. But you take every opportunity, you are going to use this platform you have with it- like wringing out every drip of water from a rag- to make the unseen love of Jesus, tangible in your bones and breathe and heart and life. 

You, my sister are brave and bold- you are not one to let society or to let misguided people in the church bog you down under religious strongholds. You have a duty in a time such as this in your life, sweet girl- you are here to make Jesus known. 

Speak out what God is doing; speak out that His way is so much better than anything and everything else. Speak out that Jesus is better than the desires of your heart. Speak out that Jesus is better than pleasure. Speak out that Jesus is better than every single thing you have ever tasted in this world. Speak it, and mean it, and have that fiery conviction in your heart and tears of love in your eyes. 

This is not a time to be silent. 

There is a watching world, a listening world, 

A world that is looking to satisfy their hearts with every crazy thing their hands can get ahold of. With money and with success and with cars and instagram and pleasure and romance and sex. Oh, you know that these things will leave your soul empty, and empty, and empty again and again. That hole, that this watching world is hungry to fill- you have found that Jesus fils. Jesus satisfies. 

Speak that- Jesus is better. Gay or straight. Jesus is better than everything else. 

God’s heart and His design for marriage and romance are beautiful, more beautiful than anything we can possibly create and partake in ourselves. 

God’s work, right now, is righting all of the wrongs in the world- every injustice, every evil, every broken thing- He is restoring all things. 

God created us- you and me, and loves us. Have you ever had someone sacrifice for you? That’s exactly what God has done. He has sacrificed Himself to be with us. He loves us. 

And- He has promised that this life isn’t it. That the hope of heaven is not babies playing harps on clouds- but rather that He is restoring the goodness in this world, this tangible world, and that one day we will live with the enjoyments of this life but not a tear will fall from our eyes. Forever and ever and ever. This is the promise of heaven, and this is what is truly good news- we have something better coming that our hearts can cling to. 

Fall in love with the Gospel of Jesus all over again, 

Let Him fill you up in His sweet love again, 

And speak it out, sister. 

You are here for a time such as this. 

There is a hurting, broken world, 

And you have so much power right now. 

With much, much love. 

And a whole lot of belief in you. 

-Melissa