It Gets Better

Alright, here we go. I said I'd be giving you a blog post soon and considering what is going on all over internetland right now, I thought I would put my two cents in in my post.

I'm sure you've heard the heartbreaking story about the gay teens that recently committed suicide due to bullying. While we unfortunately can't get back the lives of these teens, we can prevent this tragedy from happening to other teens. That's what we are attempting to do now.

You may have heard of the "It Gets Better" campaign. Its purpose is to reassure LGBT teens that, despite hard times they might be going through, despite bullying they might be suffering through, despite discrimination and hate and pain, it DOES get better. Many people are making Youtube videos and posting blogs about their stories and how things got better for them. I, personally, don't have a story to share about it, but I do have opinions on the matter.

I am a strong Christian, and often, Christians have a bad reputation when it comes to homosexuality. There are Christians who spread around so much hate that people start to believe that Christianity is full of high-and-mighty people who hate gay people; that God hates gay people; that Christians believe that people who are gay are worth less than people who are straight.

Listen up. I am here to tell you that NONE of this is true.

Sure, there are Christians who believe all of this. But aren't their non-Christians who believe horrible things as well?

I was brought up in the church, and the one thing that was reiterated constantly was love.
"Love your neighbor as yourself." (Mark 12:31)
"Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs." (Proverbs 10:12)
"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:13)

And not only are we told to love each other, but we are told that "So God created man in his own image" (Genisis 1:27) and therefore, loves every single one of us equally, no matter what we do.
My favorite verse on the subject is Romans 8:38-39: "And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord." How can you read this and believe that God hates anyone?

John 3:16, the very first Bible verse I ever remember learning by heart, tells us the God loves all of us so much, that He sent His son to save us for our sins. He didn't do this just for the righteous or the "sinless" (as if there is such a thing) or for the people that followed Him. He did this for every single person, and if we love and follow and accept Him, we will reap the benefits of it.

I know there is a lot of controversy about whether or not homosexuality is a sin, and I'm not getting into that in this post. But I am absolutely positive that one thing is true: gay or straight, black or white, religious or not, God loves you more than you can possibly comprehend. And He wants us to love every single person equally, the way He loves us all equally. Do you think He is pleased to see young people killing themselves because others are mercilessly bullying them? Do you think He is pleased to see people bullying others, period? I'm certain he isn't. No matter what someone has done wrong, God does not want us to treat that person with hate, but with love.

This post is simply to tell everyone that Christians are not hateful, whatever negative image we might have. Some Christians believe homosexuality is a sin and some don't, but either way, we are told to love everyone despite their sins, because who among us is free of sin? "Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things." Romans 2:1


Also, here is the "It Gets Better" video that inspired this post. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8J93a2IES4&feature=sub

Love to you all of you.


Song of the Day: Teenage Dream- BoyceAvenue cover
Currently reading: An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

More Book Giveways?

Yes! More book giveaways! Another giveaway is going on right on my friend Katie's blog, and this time it is for a book I REALLY want. I've been wanting to read this book since I finished The Mortal Instruments a few weeks ago, but haven't been able to afford to buy it, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for this giveaway! If you want to read it, too, you should enter! Cassandra Clare is a fantastic author and knows how to keep you hooked better than almost anyone else. Do yourself a favor and head on over to http://dft.ba/-CAgiveaway and enter!

Back-to-normal blog post coming soon.

Enjoy, lovelies!

Song of the Day: Don't Blame Me- Mike Lombardo
Currently Reading: An Abundance of Katherines by John Green