fuckingdone:

Dear Jesus of Nazareth,

First of all, I’d like to thank you for calling yourself Jesus of Nazareth. It’s sort of like the Lord of the Rings or something: “I am Jesus of Nazareth, Son of Orflec the butcher”

We know Lord, from John 3:16, that you so loved the world that you sent your only son to die for us—your only son—but at the same time, we’re all your children. So, in your eyes, we’re a bunch of girls. So help us as we struggle with the temptations of lesbianism.

Amen.

———-

Hi,

It’s not clear whether your open letter to Jesus is ironic, deadly serious, or a little bit of both. I’m choosing to take you seriously if only because someone else might read this and get something out of it — that’s Tumblr for you.

Anyway, the whole “Jesus of Nazareth” thing wasn’t something Jesus started. Back in the day, people identified each other by where they were from, as if they could “know” you by where you were born.

People still do that today. I have loved ones who struggle with frenemies who constantly tear them down because of where they were born, how they speak, the culture they were raised in, and the likes and dislikes that stem from their raising.

That’s sort of how you think God relates to you just because you’re a girl. A lot of people think the same thing about girls, and a lot of them go to church, um, religiously.

Please understand this: Nothing could be further from the truth.

Your Creator (Jesus, BTW, who is God) is CRAZY about you — your gender, your birthplace, your culture, your accent, your talents, the stuff you’re lousy at, your appearance. That’s how He made you.

Even though, on the surface, you have certain things in common with certain other people, God made you different from everybody else and He loves that about you. He loves your potential and He loves what He created you to do. You are not “less than” anybody else simply because God made you female.

He even says so in Galatians 3:27-29: “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”

That means if you’ve accepted Jesus, you inherit everything that every other adopted child of God inherits when Jesus comes back.

Sure, guys and girls have different jobs now, but we’re just as valuable in the body of Christ. Nobody has the right to treat us like garbage because of the circumstances of our birth, our upbringing, our gender, or any other reason.

In fact, God says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” (Jeremiah 1:5a) He is so over the moon about your uniqueness that “even the hairs of your head are all numbered.” (Matthew 10:30)

That’s how much God loves you. That’s how much Jesus loves you.

Jesus loves you so much that He became Jesus of Nazareth — just some guy from some crummy seaside town, with no background, no breeding, and no education — so that He could die for your sins and everyone else’s.

He didn’t have to. In John 10:17-18, He explains, “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.  No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

Philippians 2:6-8 says this about Jesus, “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Let everyone on this planet say that you’re just a girl in a bunch of girls, but Jesus made you unique, and He died to give you everlasting life in heaven with Him. He will hear your prayers as you struggle with same-sex attraction, and He will answer them.

As you struggle, you’ll meet two different kinds of people — those who will tell you you were “born this way” and those who will hate you.

Ironically, listening to either group will bring the same result — it will drive you to give in to temptation. Jesus says you’re not who they want to make you; you’re who He made you.

He also says this, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” (I Corinthians 10:13)

Pray like crazy. Read your Bible — all of it; not just the parts the haters want you to read — and you’ll start to hear His voice. Let Him help you, talk to you, listen to you, guide you, and love you, and show you just how special you are.

(Source: judge-broseph-chillaxton)