For Love & Freedom | Life is More than SSA
For all of my American views and subscribers (make sure to subscribe to my blog if you haven't already), I want to wish you a very happy Independence Day. I hope and pray that you get to celebrate with family and friends, and that you enjoy your freedom in the best way possible today.
On the topic of freedom, I wanted to share an experience that I had recently with you, because I think it's important to address, especially on the topic of SSA, that we as human beings do not have to submit to our desires. We can rise above them, and overcome them. This is freedom.
Many of you may have seen my open letter to the LGBTQ+ Community (if not, you can check it out here). That letter was placed in front of a lot more people than I ever expected it to. And, with a controversial topic like SSA, it's going to be pretty common for my posts to run across people who don't agree with my stance, and some of them will become angry and resentful towards me.
One woman that I came across the other day said something to me that I thought was extremely interesting.
She was highly upset at the fact that I suggested that someone can lead a happy and fulfilled life without acting on their Same-Sex Attractions.
Now, for me, I can completely understand where she's coming from. I know that the idea that you can lead a life not acting on such strong and overwhelming desires can be an extremely tough pill to swallow. I sympathize with her. I get it. I still struggle with this every day, which I tried explaining to her, but she implied that I had been brainwashed by the Catholic Church.
I once heard Australian entrepreneur extraordinaire Kerwin Rae say, "Whatever you need in life will control you." (Emphasis mine.) I've done a lot of pondering on this, and I find it to be true in the spiritual sense as well as just life in general. If you develop a need to act on your attractions to the same sex, it will control you. It will control how you act, what you think, what you believe, everything!
My brothers and sisters we know that as Christians, we are called to remain in the love of God. We are called to holiness. We all have flawed desires within us. For me, it's SSA. For someone else, it could be greed. Another person, envy. We all have something. And if it wasn't that something, it would be something else. But as I've mentioned in a previous post on Divine Intimacy, we all have a desire for God. I don't care how much we try to deny it, it's there. We all desire that authentic intimacy with God.
Once, when I simply couldn't get my mind off of this one girl (let's call her Stacy). I called on a friend to give me some advice. He's a speaker that is a practicing Catholic that struggles with SSA, and he is like a spiritual father to me.
I told him what was going on, how I was feeling, and I told him that I didn't know if I would ever come out of feeling like that. I thought it was never going to end.
This good, and beautiful man, gave me some of the best advice I've ever received, and I want to share what he said to me with you.
"So imagine being... in Adoration... and telling Jesus... that you want to be with Stacy instead of with Him... Do you really want to tell Him that today?
And you shouldn't be worrying what Stacy might think more than about Jesus...
Plus, my friend, if you really loved Stacy as you ought to, you would not be leading her into sin. Others may do that to her, but you know that it is wrong for you to do so.
Aren't you a child of God before ALL else...?"
"Aren't you a child of God before all else?" This line strikes me. It's so meaningful, so profound, and so simple. Before anything else, we are children of God, my dear friends.
You'll very rarely hear me call myself "gay." Because I cannot reduce all that I am to who I'm emotionally or physically attracted to. Before all else, I am a child of God. Before all else, all of us are children of God! It would do us well to remember that.
This woman, reminds me so much of how I felt back then. My mind solely focused on Stacy, my heart torn into pieces, and I didn't know if I would ever heal. I had forgot who I was. I had forgotten Whose I was, and always will be.
True freedom, is being free to love Him Who first loved us. In my life right now, in this time and in this beautiful moment, I feel so free. I feel free to love God, and to love others, and myself.
Yesterday, I texted Stacy and I asked her to forgive me. She didn't really know why I was apologizing, but it was a liberating experience for me.
Pray for this woman. Pray for Stacy. Pray for anyone and everyone who deals with SSA, especially those who hate the Church.
Experience and appreciate freedom today, my friends. Go freely to the Lord, and tell Him that you love Him.