You are precious in His sight.

Dearly Beloved,

You! Yes, YOU, are perfectly made in the image of God. Jeremiah 1:5 says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” This applies to the LGBTQ+ community as well. God knew you before you were born and made you in His image. He designed you to be exactly as you are.

You are BELOVED by Him, simply by being you! As you go through life, I pray that you have a deep understanding of this concept and reject anything or anyone that tells you otherwise. As a child I believed that I was worthless, sinful in nature, and not deserving of love. But I now know those were lies and my heart breaks for the little girl who believed all the negative things she would hear about herself. As an adult I realize that we have a choice of what we believe. It’s not always easy, and it takes courage to stand up to people who say they love us but continue to hurt us. But you are courageous and can do hard things!

Please know there are many Christians who love you exactly as you are and will never try to change you. Know that there are moms and dads who love you like they love their own children and would love to have you as part of their family. Know there are churches who accept you and honor you and want your active participation in the church as an openly LGBTQ+ person. Know there are people cheering you on and who pray for you daily.

I pray that you will grow in love with yourself as you grow in love with Christ. I pray that you know you are deeply loved by Him and worthy of love by others too.

I pray that you know you are precious in His sight. Amen.

Love,

Tiffany McClurg