Yes, I know I skipped last week. You try uploading a blog post without any internet access sometime! That is my excuse. Thank you for listening.
Over the past several months, I have noticed something about myself. Sometimes, when the Gospel is presented, the powerful message brings me to tears. But other times, I feel absolutely nothing. I am actually almost bored. So I wondered, how can the Gospel seem so fresh and alive one day and so stale the next? I have struggled with "keeping it real" when I sing. Those nights when the Gospel is fresh in my heart, beautiful things happen. But there are times when (and I hate to admit this) I feel like I am just up there singing.
Now, before I continue, let me make it perfectly clear that the Gospel never changes. It is always gloriously beautiful and full of wonder and power. Remember that.
A few Sundays ago, the pastor was talking about the death and resurrection of Jesus and I instantly settled into that "I've heard all this before" attitude. As I sat there, I knew the message was not touching my heart the way it should have. I was ashamed. And then in an instant, everything changed. I was once again awed by the story and it's breathtaking beauty. Something was different inside of me. In that moment, I understood why the beloved story of Jesus Christ can seem so dull and uninteresting one moment and so very intriguing the next.
You know how familiarity can cause impassivity? Like when Daddy says "I love you". I know it is true, but I do not always react to those words emotionally.
Before I go on, I do not want you to think for a minute that my faith is based upon feelings. It is not. My point here is not that we need to feel something when we hear the Gospel, but, rather, we should not be so pathetically indifferent to it.
How do we keep from having an attitude of uninterestedness toward the things of God? Well, I already told you. It is the title of my post today (I'm such a spoiler). So often we just listen with our heads. We know the stories inside and out and some of us know them backwards too. We are so familiar with them that we are not truly listening anymore. That Sunday morning, I began to listen with my heart instead of my head and suddenly I could hear the precious words. I did not necessarily feel anything, but the sweet story had meaning again.
The Gospel did not change. I did.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
His Gift
You know how you can read the Bible over and over again and every time learn something new? It seems like no matter how well I know a certain passage, there is always something new to discover. While studying Genesis 2 a few weeks ago, I saw something I had never really noticed or thought about before. And it has rocked my world.
For years I have had this idea that I am supposed to be waiting for my wonderful prince to come. I have always imagined him coming into my life and being just perfect for me. I have looked forward to meeting this man, the man who was made to be my husband. How self-centered is that? When I saw Genesis 2:22 and realized my error, I was disgusted with my own selfish attitude. This is what it says...
And the rib, which The LORD God had taken from man, made He a woman, and brought her unto the man.
I have had everything so backwards! This verse has showed me that I am not to wait for my man to come to me. Instead, I am to wait for God to bring me to him the same way He brought Eve to Adam. My future husband was not made for me. I was made for him.
That is not all I have learned from this passage though. What God showed me next brought me to tears. For you to understand why this is so significant, I need to tell you a little bit about myself...
The past several years, I have struggled with lies.
Lies like:
You're a failure.
You will never be beautiful inside.
Nobody wants you.
You are a horrible person.
You don't even deserve to live.
There are hundreds more just like those and they are all just as ugly. If anything ever goes wrong, I am the first person I blame. I have a very low opinion of myself and think that everything bad is my fault. I have called myself garbage, I have hated myself, I have believed every lie that has been thrown at me. Praise God, this year has been better and I am so thankful to have freedom! This does not mean I no longer struggle though. Sometimes the lies still come to haunt me. I still have to fight them. But when the darkness comes, the Lord will always show me something in His Word and let me know that I am beautiful to Him. Last month, He showed me Genesis 2:22. Read it again...
And the rib, which The LORD God had taken from man, made He a woman, and brought her unto the man.
Do you see that? The woman was God's gift to the man, created especially for him. I am not a worthless piece of trash. I am a beautiful treasure. I am a gift. Years ago, my parents chose a name for me and I believe it was no mistake. They named me Jessica, "gift". My very name is a reminder to me now of who I am. Of who God made me to be.
No longer do I picture a princess gazing out the castle window, waiting for a dashing prince on a white horse to come for her. I see a precious gift being formed and perfected by the hands of God Himself, to be presented at the perfect time to a very special man.
The man I was created for.
For years I have had this idea that I am supposed to be waiting for my wonderful prince to come. I have always imagined him coming into my life and being just perfect for me. I have looked forward to meeting this man, the man who was made to be my husband. How self-centered is that? When I saw Genesis 2:22 and realized my error, I was disgusted with my own selfish attitude. This is what it says...
And the rib, which The LORD God had taken from man, made He a woman, and brought her unto the man.
I have had everything so backwards! This verse has showed me that I am not to wait for my man to come to me. Instead, I am to wait for God to bring me to him the same way He brought Eve to Adam. My future husband was not made for me. I was made for him.
That is not all I have learned from this passage though. What God showed me next brought me to tears. For you to understand why this is so significant, I need to tell you a little bit about myself...
The past several years, I have struggled with lies.
Lies like:
You're a failure.
You will never be beautiful inside.
Nobody wants you.
You are a horrible person.
You don't even deserve to live.
There are hundreds more just like those and they are all just as ugly. If anything ever goes wrong, I am the first person I blame. I have a very low opinion of myself and think that everything bad is my fault. I have called myself garbage, I have hated myself, I have believed every lie that has been thrown at me. Praise God, this year has been better and I am so thankful to have freedom! This does not mean I no longer struggle though. Sometimes the lies still come to haunt me. I still have to fight them. But when the darkness comes, the Lord will always show me something in His Word and let me know that I am beautiful to Him. Last month, He showed me Genesis 2:22. Read it again...
And the rib, which The LORD God had taken from man, made He a woman, and brought her unto the man.
Do you see that? The woman was God's gift to the man, created especially for him. I am not a worthless piece of trash. I am a beautiful treasure. I am a gift. Years ago, my parents chose a name for me and I believe it was no mistake. They named me Jessica, "gift". My very name is a reminder to me now of who I am. Of who God made me to be.
No longer do I picture a princess gazing out the castle window, waiting for a dashing prince on a white horse to come for her. I see a precious gift being formed and perfected by the hands of God Himself, to be presented at the perfect time to a very special man.
The man I was created for.
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
One of Those Days
Raise your hand if you've ever felt like a failure. My hand is up. Yeah, it's been one of those days. I will not bother with details because you don't want to hear about it and I don't want to talk about it. It does not help that I have nothing brilliant prepared for this Tuesday...again. I promise I will try not to make a habit out of this.
Today, I have felt lonely and even unwanted. I am pretty sure I made mountains out of molehills (to borrow the colloquialism), but us women can get emotional sometimes and I was short on chocolate. That is my story.
A couple of hours ago, I left my brother's apartment to go home. But instead of walking to the bus, I sat down on the curb and had me a good cry. It was wonderful! I have not allowed myself to cry for so long, I think I honestly just needed to. There was a perfect sky full of stars capturing my attention the way it always does. And the Creator of those stars gently reminded me that I am never alone.
As I sat there, I had a particular song playing in my head. So to all of you who have ever had one of those days, this is for you...
It's been one of those days
If anything could go wrong
It went wrong
I know I'm feeling sorry for me
There's a lot of self-pity going on
Tomorrow I will be okay
The dawn will bring a brand new day
I'm sure by then I'll be fine
Lord, today I really need a friend
I know that You understand
Would You hold me while I cry?
I try to be stong
But if anyone can fall apart
I fall apart
I run back to You again
And You heal my broken heart
You have truly been a friend
Reaching out to lend a hand
Lord, when You could have passed me by
I'm asking for Your strength today
Lift my spirit, Lord, I pray
Will You just hold me while I cry?
I take a lot of Your time
When I should be strong
I should be standing by now
But it's You I'm leaning on
You've always kept me safe from harm
Like a child in Your arms
You've cradled me through hardships faced in life
Lord, it's just one of those days
I've been fought in every way
Would You hold me while I cry?
Today, I have felt lonely and even unwanted. I am pretty sure I made mountains out of molehills (to borrow the colloquialism), but us women can get emotional sometimes and I was short on chocolate. That is my story.
A couple of hours ago, I left my brother's apartment to go home. But instead of walking to the bus, I sat down on the curb and had me a good cry. It was wonderful! I have not allowed myself to cry for so long, I think I honestly just needed to. There was a perfect sky full of stars capturing my attention the way it always does. And the Creator of those stars gently reminded me that I am never alone.
As I sat there, I had a particular song playing in my head. So to all of you who have ever had one of those days, this is for you...
It's been one of those days
If anything could go wrong
It went wrong
I know I'm feeling sorry for me
There's a lot of self-pity going on
Tomorrow I will be okay
The dawn will bring a brand new day
I'm sure by then I'll be fine
Lord, today I really need a friend
I know that You understand
Would You hold me while I cry?
I try to be stong
But if anyone can fall apart
I fall apart
I run back to You again
And You heal my broken heart
You have truly been a friend
Reaching out to lend a hand
Lord, when You could have passed me by
I'm asking for Your strength today
Lift my spirit, Lord, I pray
Will You just hold me while I cry?
I take a lot of Your time
When I should be strong
I should be standing by now
But it's You I'm leaning on
You've always kept me safe from harm
Like a child in Your arms
You've cradled me through hardships faced in life
Lord, it's just one of those days
I've been fought in every way
Would You hold me while I cry?
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Stepping Out
I did not have much time to pull my thoughts together this past week. Caring for my family on a tour to Pennsylvania while my mother stays in Michigan with my invalid brother (read that story here) is not conducive to writing. And so, this is not my usual write, edit seventy times, read, reread, edit again blog post. I actually did not know what to even write about until two sentences ago. This should be interesting...
Blogging really is not my "thing". My mother can attest to the fact that I have always hated any writing that I "had" to do. School assignments requiring an essay or short story were ridiculously drawn out, emotional experiences. There were always tears, crumpled papers, and the occasional broken pencil involved. Which begs the question, why start a blog where I am required to write something every week? I promise this was NOT my idea. I am scared of writing anything that other people will read. Journaling, fine. I can write in my journal all day long, but the blog is a different story.
Back in April of 2012, I was talking to a friend of mine and we somehow ended up on the subject of my beliefs about purity, modesty, courtship, marriage, and womanhood. He asked lots of questions, but he was not like most people I talk to who want to make me change my mind. He was genuinely interested in my opinions and apparently was impressed with what I had to say because he said, "You should speak at conferences about this stuff!" The idea seemed so absurd to me, I had to laugh. You see, even greater than my fear of writing is my fear of public speaking. Yeah. I know. Anyway, the next week, all I could think about was our conversation and what my friend had said. But speaking in front of a large group of people was NOT going to happen. Then it hit me. A blog! That idea was almost as crazy as the first though. Me? Blog? Obviously, this was not my idea at all. It was God's. He did not say anything to me verbally, mind you, but I could sense that this was His doing. I thought it over some and decided to go for it, although I was not particularly excited about the prospect. I immediately began reading several books on the subjects I would be writing about. I said I needed to be prepared. Which is good. One should be sufficiently prepared when undertaking a task such as this. But that was not why I did it. I read and studied for nearly a year before I realized that I was only putting off what I had been told to do.
Have you ever done something like that?
I tend to do things slowly and sometimes procrastinate, but avoiding something for a year was pathetic. Finally, I threw my comfort out the window and began writing. Now here I am, four months later, still not sure what I am doing and trying to figure out the internet (I am not today's typical young person). With the Lord's help, I will remain here until He tells me otherwise. And, you know, I am actually enjoying this!
So I suppose my point is that when the Lord puts it on your heart to do something, just step out and go for it. I wonder what blessings I might have missed by not starting this blog sooner. So what if the task you were told to accomplish is something you are not good at or comfortable with? Check out this verse:
And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
This has become my theme verse this year. (And I often quote it over and over when I do a concert in poor voice.) I am a real perfectionist, but it seems like when I am weakest, He uses me to bless people in the most powerful way. And so I trust Him to do that with this blog.
Well then. I am no longer in a panic as I see I have quite a few words typed up for all of you to read. Whether you will appreciate them or not is entirely up to you.
Blogging really is not my "thing". My mother can attest to the fact that I have always hated any writing that I "had" to do. School assignments requiring an essay or short story were ridiculously drawn out, emotional experiences. There were always tears, crumpled papers, and the occasional broken pencil involved. Which begs the question, why start a blog where I am required to write something every week? I promise this was NOT my idea. I am scared of writing anything that other people will read. Journaling, fine. I can write in my journal all day long, but the blog is a different story.
Back in April of 2012, I was talking to a friend of mine and we somehow ended up on the subject of my beliefs about purity, modesty, courtship, marriage, and womanhood. He asked lots of questions, but he was not like most people I talk to who want to make me change my mind. He was genuinely interested in my opinions and apparently was impressed with what I had to say because he said, "You should speak at conferences about this stuff!" The idea seemed so absurd to me, I had to laugh. You see, even greater than my fear of writing is my fear of public speaking. Yeah. I know. Anyway, the next week, all I could think about was our conversation and what my friend had said. But speaking in front of a large group of people was NOT going to happen. Then it hit me. A blog! That idea was almost as crazy as the first though. Me? Blog? Obviously, this was not my idea at all. It was God's. He did not say anything to me verbally, mind you, but I could sense that this was His doing. I thought it over some and decided to go for it, although I was not particularly excited about the prospect. I immediately began reading several books on the subjects I would be writing about. I said I needed to be prepared. Which is good. One should be sufficiently prepared when undertaking a task such as this. But that was not why I did it. I read and studied for nearly a year before I realized that I was only putting off what I had been told to do.
Have you ever done something like that?
I tend to do things slowly and sometimes procrastinate, but avoiding something for a year was pathetic. Finally, I threw my comfort out the window and began writing. Now here I am, four months later, still not sure what I am doing and trying to figure out the internet (I am not today's typical young person). With the Lord's help, I will remain here until He tells me otherwise. And, you know, I am actually enjoying this!
So I suppose my point is that when the Lord puts it on your heart to do something, just step out and go for it. I wonder what blessings I might have missed by not starting this blog sooner. So what if the task you were told to accomplish is something you are not good at or comfortable with? Check out this verse:
And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
This has become my theme verse this year. (And I often quote it over and over when I do a concert in poor voice.) I am a real perfectionist, but it seems like when I am weakest, He uses me to bless people in the most powerful way. And so I trust Him to do that with this blog.
Well then. I am no longer in a panic as I see I have quite a few words typed up for all of you to read. Whether you will appreciate them or not is entirely up to you.
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
How To Love
How is one to define love? Many say it is a feeling, intense and passionate affection, desire, euphoria, but I believe it is much more than that. Feelings are just so volatile. Erratic. Fickle. So then what is love? The Bible says God is love. I took some of the things I know about God and used that information to define love. This is what I ended up with: Love is steady, unchanging, and constant. Love is forever. Love is unconditional selflessness.
Now, with this in mind, let us look at how we can love our future husbands- right now. At this point, some of you are thinking, "But I don't even know the man yet". Well, guess what. You do not have to know your prince in order to love him. Sure you will love him when you know him, but by choosing to love him now, your love when you marry will be so much sweeter.
"Gabrielle, how am I supposed to love someone I have never met?" Good question. Here is the answer: You love him by the choices you make. You love him by considering how your choices will affect him. It is simple really. Just think before you make any decision where relationships with guys are concerned. Like this....an acquaintance of mine asked me out on a date. I said no. And this is why: while it probably would have been fun and we could have had a great time together, I knew I could never marry him. He was not "the one" and I did not need to go on a date with him in order to figure that out. See, I may not know who my future husband is, but I know enough about him to know who he is not. I loved my man in that situation by giving up my own pleasure for him. Unconditional selflessness. He is worth it to me and I want our marriage to be as special as I can possibly make it.
Every decision I make as a single woman will affect my future as a married woman and little things really do matter!
The last thing I want to bring into marriage is a broken, scarred, and soiled heart with memories of mistakes that will forever haunt me. My desire is to give my man a pure and spotless heart that has been reserved for him alone. Will you do the same? Choose to save your heart for one man. Act in such a way that will make him proud. Remember him when you make decisions that will affect both of you. Respect him, honor him, love him right now.
Love him today.
Now, with this in mind, let us look at how we can love our future husbands- right now. At this point, some of you are thinking, "But I don't even know the man yet". Well, guess what. You do not have to know your prince in order to love him. Sure you will love him when you know him, but by choosing to love him now, your love when you marry will be so much sweeter.
"Gabrielle, how am I supposed to love someone I have never met?" Good question. Here is the answer: You love him by the choices you make. You love him by considering how your choices will affect him. It is simple really. Just think before you make any decision where relationships with guys are concerned. Like this....an acquaintance of mine asked me out on a date. I said no. And this is why: while it probably would have been fun and we could have had a great time together, I knew I could never marry him. He was not "the one" and I did not need to go on a date with him in order to figure that out. See, I may not know who my future husband is, but I know enough about him to know who he is not. I loved my man in that situation by giving up my own pleasure for him. Unconditional selflessness. He is worth it to me and I want our marriage to be as special as I can possibly make it.
Every decision I make as a single woman will affect my future as a married woman and little things really do matter!
The last thing I want to bring into marriage is a broken, scarred, and soiled heart with memories of mistakes that will forever haunt me. My desire is to give my man a pure and spotless heart that has been reserved for him alone. Will you do the same? Choose to save your heart for one man. Act in such a way that will make him proud. Remember him when you make decisions that will affect both of you. Respect him, honor him, love him right now.
Love him today.
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Truly Content
I'm back!! Yeah, I know. I have been really terrible about this whole blogging thing. From now on, I will be posting every Tuesday (or at least making a valiant attempt to). So enjoy the new post and come back every week for more. Thanks for reading!
"Last night, I dreamt I was a mother. I held my precious little son in my arms and felt inexpressible joy as he called me 'mama' for the very first time. Waiting just became that much harder."
I wrote those words in my journal earlier this year. Needless to say, that was a tough week to get through. Sometimes, being single just seems so unfair. The difficulties never go away, but rather increase. Almost every one of my friends is engaged or married and now many of them are having children. I want so badly to join them in their happiness, but somehow, singleness makes me an outsider.
Will it ever be me?
It often seems as though I have nothing in common with anyone anymore and the only way out of my world of unhappiness is marriage- a blessing I do not see coming in the near future. Discontentment is very difficult to fight these days. It is my constant enemy.....well, it is supposed to be my enemy. Honestly, it is easier to just be friends, companions walking through life together. Problem is, discontentment is a lousy friend. It causes me to lose my joy, to forget my ministry, and to make those around me unhappy. Fighting it is challenging, but the consequences of surrender are detrimental.
How does one achieve victory over discontentment?
I do not know if a person can ever have total triumph over it here in this world. The little fiend never gives up easily and it puts up a good fight. Sometimes, I think I have defeated it, but then it always comes back. There is an almost daily battle and I must constantly be on my guard against attack. But I do know how to win. First, let me give you a couple of definitions...
Discontentment: A longing for something better than the present situation.
Contentment: Happiness with one's situation in life.
When we are discontent, we desire something "better", and we think that once we obtain it, we shall be content. But it does not work that way. Discontentedness can only give birth to more of the same. In other words, you will always want something "better" than what you have. It will never be enough. It is true that you reap what you sow, and if seeds of discontent are being sown in your heart, that is what you will get at harvest time- and more of it too, because that little seed grows into something bigger and uglier. Many times, we fail to see that while we are waiting for what we think is best, God has already put us in the best place. And our disdain for the situation we are in has caused us to miss the Lord's blessings. I am as guilty as anyone. But how can we be happy with where we are? How can we be truly content?
Trust.
Just trust Him and know that His ways are higher than your own (Isaiah 55:9). He has you in a good place right now and the best thing for you to do is serve Him with your whole heart and leave no room for anything else to come in and poison you. Reach out to others, take no thought for yourself, give much, love strong, and live for a bigger purpose than your own agenda. See the good in your situation and use every opportunity you have been given to glorify God. I think you will soon find that your longings have left you and the Lord has given you not only happiness with where you are, but a lasting joy as well.
You and I are in this together.
"Last night, I dreamt I was a mother. I held my precious little son in my arms and felt inexpressible joy as he called me 'mama' for the very first time. Waiting just became that much harder."
I wrote those words in my journal earlier this year. Needless to say, that was a tough week to get through. Sometimes, being single just seems so unfair. The difficulties never go away, but rather increase. Almost every one of my friends is engaged or married and now many of them are having children. I want so badly to join them in their happiness, but somehow, singleness makes me an outsider.
Will it ever be me?
It often seems as though I have nothing in common with anyone anymore and the only way out of my world of unhappiness is marriage- a blessing I do not see coming in the near future. Discontentment is very difficult to fight these days. It is my constant enemy.....well, it is supposed to be my enemy. Honestly, it is easier to just be friends, companions walking through life together. Problem is, discontentment is a lousy friend. It causes me to lose my joy, to forget my ministry, and to make those around me unhappy. Fighting it is challenging, but the consequences of surrender are detrimental.
How does one achieve victory over discontentment?
I do not know if a person can ever have total triumph over it here in this world. The little fiend never gives up easily and it puts up a good fight. Sometimes, I think I have defeated it, but then it always comes back. There is an almost daily battle and I must constantly be on my guard against attack. But I do know how to win. First, let me give you a couple of definitions...
Discontentment: A longing for something better than the present situation.
Contentment: Happiness with one's situation in life.
When we are discontent, we desire something "better", and we think that once we obtain it, we shall be content. But it does not work that way. Discontentedness can only give birth to more of the same. In other words, you will always want something "better" than what you have. It will never be enough. It is true that you reap what you sow, and if seeds of discontent are being sown in your heart, that is what you will get at harvest time- and more of it too, because that little seed grows into something bigger and uglier. Many times, we fail to see that while we are waiting for what we think is best, God has already put us in the best place. And our disdain for the situation we are in has caused us to miss the Lord's blessings. I am as guilty as anyone. But how can we be happy with where we are? How can we be truly content?
Trust.
Just trust Him and know that His ways are higher than your own (Isaiah 55:9). He has you in a good place right now and the best thing for you to do is serve Him with your whole heart and leave no room for anything else to come in and poison you. Reach out to others, take no thought for yourself, give much, love strong, and live for a bigger purpose than your own agenda. See the good in your situation and use every opportunity you have been given to glorify God. I think you will soon find that your longings have left you and the Lord has given you not only happiness with where you are, but a lasting joy as well.
You and I are in this together.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Rebekah: A Virgin
One of the first things God tells us about Rebekah is that she was a virgin. Here was a beautiful young lady who I am sure was admired by many a man and could have had a lot of fun flirting and enjoying their attention. But she was not running after young men, trying to start a romance. Instead, she trusted in the Lord to write her love story, content to stay at home and be with her family. And her purity sparkled. Nobody ever questioned her character. The way she carried herself, the manner in which she treated men, and her sweet innocence all made it obvious that Rebekah was a virgin.
In today's society, virginity is no longer considered a precious treasure. There are very few young women who cherish this gift and are determined to save their bodies for their future husbands. You may be one of them. Do not allow yourself to feel pressured to do what everyone else is doing just because you are in the minority. I know I will never regret my decision to remain a virgin until marriage. Ever. Nobody experiences a broken heart as the result of purity. Yet countless thousands of girls and women suffer deep emotional wounds as the result of fornication.
You heard me. Fornication. You can find it listed among the "works of the flesh" in Galatians 5, along with murder, idolatry, and witchcraft. Fornication is sin and that is why it hurts so much.
I know some of you who are reading this have messed up and lost the treasure of your virginity, but you know what? God still loves you. Nothing that you have done, nothing anybody else has done, nothing at all can separate you from the love of God.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8: 38-39
He knows what you have done. He knew it long ago and has already paid for your sin.
He will forgive you.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9
He will forget your sin.
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
Hebrews 8:12
He will give you victory.
But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:57
You can start all over! It is true that you will never again have your virginity, but you can still live a life of purity as a child of God. Put your past behind you and don't let it haunt you.
God has made you new.
In today's society, virginity is no longer considered a precious treasure. There are very few young women who cherish this gift and are determined to save their bodies for their future husbands. You may be one of them. Do not allow yourself to feel pressured to do what everyone else is doing just because you are in the minority. I know I will never regret my decision to remain a virgin until marriage. Ever. Nobody experiences a broken heart as the result of purity. Yet countless thousands of girls and women suffer deep emotional wounds as the result of fornication.
You heard me. Fornication. You can find it listed among the "works of the flesh" in Galatians 5, along with murder, idolatry, and witchcraft. Fornication is sin and that is why it hurts so much.
I know some of you who are reading this have messed up and lost the treasure of your virginity, but you know what? God still loves you. Nothing that you have done, nothing anybody else has done, nothing at all can separate you from the love of God.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8: 38-39
He knows what you have done. He knew it long ago and has already paid for your sin.
He will forgive you.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9
He will forget your sin.
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
Hebrews 8:12
He will give you victory.
But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:57
You can start all over! It is true that you will never again have your virginity, but you can still live a life of purity as a child of God. Put your past behind you and don't let it haunt you.
God has made you new.
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