You may be a fellow parent at school, or faithful church goer. Maybe a pastor, doctor, teacher, neighbor, police officer, business mogul, bus driver, politician, janitor… You may be friend or family, male or female, greying or young, any race, (anti)religion, sexual orientation, political party affiliation,..
I’m not here to curse or condemn you. This is an honest letter from the heart.
Did you stumble on images? Or maybe your sexuality was peaked so young it went haywire? Maybe you experienced something yourself, or had friends involved. Or maybe you had/have so much money you found yourself in strange circles.
Did you try to stop but it became like an addiction? Maybe it seemed so dark you thought there was no way out?
Whatever happened, I want to share this:
- The world may call you a pedophile and you may think that’s your identity, but I don’t. Isn’t who we are is infinitely greater than who we love, what we desire, or what choices we’ve made? Labels are for cabinets and clothing…not people.
- You’re Loved.
We may think our actions or thoughts are too heinous to be forgiven– and if they could be forgiven, we could never be truly loved after. But I believe even the worst of us is covered–isn’t this what Jesus was all about? Didn’t he show us that God, the One who knows our worst, is actually the One who loves us most? No matter how deep the pit, God’s Love goes deeper still. - I think there’s a real, dark alternate plan for our lives full of badness, pain, suffering, and shame. We all make mistakes and sometimes stray off following our desires. But one verse says it’s possible to fall into a trap like a bird and end up doing the will of the darkness– so not even our will, and certainly not God’s (2 Timothy 2:26).
- Pointing a finger at someone means four more point back at me and contrary to popular belief, the Bible advises pretty much against messing with people. Instead, grace, mercy, love, and acceptance should lead. But if something or some actions are leading to death, love in our heart compels us to say something. And engaging in sexual activities with kids is killing them. If they survive, they may contend for decades with depression, health complications, shame, self-hatred, self-harm, alcohol and other substance abuse, violence, crime, and suicide.
But for you too– even just viewing images or videos is participating in their death. And it’s killing you too. - But time is almost up. Nothing any of us did was ever in secret and certainly not for those who hurt, manipulated or tricked children. Floor boards, doors, even air molecules are witness. Every pain and injustice in this world stokes a loving God’s ferocious anger. Even a dormant volcano can obliterate everything in its path.
But even now Jesus intercedes for us (Romans 8:34) and God’s Core is 100% pure, albeit fierce Love.
I don’t write this letter lightly. Glimpsing the pandemic crushed me. But, like a vision, I saw the world turning in a Mercy to save as many as possible from an impending eruption. And in a flash, I saw the face of one who abuses as if it were one of my own children: fragile, foolish, precious, my own.
A parent’s authentic, unconditional Love isn’t contingent on a child’s behavior…
Right now is a New Moment.
You can choose to turn from what deep down you know is wrong. Separate yourself from this lifestyle, rid your house of any images, websites, avoid familiar places or triggering habits. If you feel you can’t stop or need help, please check-in somewhere, even if that means jail because things are Serious now.
And if you fight this, Love Itself is on your side. Don’t give up. But if you persist, or honestly just don’t care, know a time is coming when God *Himself will fight against you. And what’s coming is worse than any suffering endured by anyone on the planet ever, “as though a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him.. and so he went into the house, leaned his hand on the wall and a serpent bit him…” (Amos 5:19)
My plea is that you let light break in and see if darkness won’t flee. All of Heaven is on your side.
With hope and belief for your good to win it all,
Jasmine
More on the subjects of God’s Love, Justice, and your worth:
–The Ax at the Root: Why I Cut Down My Grapevine (or how the world can end if just one child suffers)
–Can’t Touch God, Can’t Touch You (recalling the priest who God struck dead for just the slightest touch)
–God’s Halloween Costume: Trick or Treat, What’s Your Worth? (or how no amount of money can buy you)
–Wildly Loved, but Love Burns Hot (or how to reconcile injustice and the pain in the world with God’s “Unconditional Love”).
-More about the Heart of a Misunderstood God, check the #WildKidsWildGod Series.
*I use He and HIs as simple pronouns for God but fully recognize *Him with male and female identity–as evidenced throughout the bible but most blatantly through the human race (see eg Genesis 1:27). More in a 2-part post, Transgender God, here and here.
Feature image, from zyn-e.com