Growing up, I have always been the outcast. From the moment I had my control of my emotions and actions, I have always known I was different. When my perceptions of various subjects were different than the man next to me.
I never was taught at a young age that being “gay” or doing “girl things” was going to start a flicker of hatred towards me. I came to the realization that with the start of middle school when someone close to outed me to the entire class of a Catholic middle school that my world would change forever. I was so ashamed of myself and didn’t want to be me anymore. It was at that moment when I knew that I needed to be me to save me.
Fast forward to high school I was one of the happiest men on campus, but I lacked that spark that made me the sense of happiness that I feel today. That emptiness of hope that I need to push me through the rest of my life.
That spark was Jesus.
People have these misconceptions that homosexuality is a living sin, and that homosexuality is a choice. But no one ever realizes that the God that all of the Christian faith worship is a forgiving, and loving God. This statement was told by one of my favorite pastors, and it stated: “You can be who God made you to be.” You have a purpose in this world, and God had written your story way before you were born, and we are just living within the chapters of our amazing story. I believe in my story.
Many people today have grown to become more accepting to the LGBT community in joining and following God. I have been lucky enough to find a place where my sexual orientation gets celebrated as love and compassion rather than a sin and hate. They see me more as my love for God and passion for following Him than my sexual orientation. There should be more places in the world where the LGBT community can feel the love of God and not have to worry about feeling judged on their sexual preference. As Romans 15:7 states “Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” We don’t have to live in a world of hate; we should live in a world of acceptance and love.
