when true love doesn't wait.




i've noticed the topic of purity - more specifically, sexual purity - has been gaining momentum in blogs lately. in a society that encourages promiscuity and testing out the waters before marriage, girls are exposed to sex starting as young as twelve and thirteen. that breaks my heart so much. i love that married ladies and single gals alike are writing to girls of all ages, encouraging them to see their worth. some girls sign a card or wear rings that show their pledge to save themselves until they are married. true love waits.

but what about the girls who didn't wait? why aren't we talking to them as well?
what about the girl who sought attention from boys because she didn't have someone to tell her that she is worth so much more? what about the woman with a past that she desperately tries to hide out fear that she will be deemed dirty or shameful or a slut? what about the ladies who messed up, big time, and read about purity and saving oneself and feel less than?

are we teaching them to hide their past and their shame? i'm not saying we should glorify those who didn't save themselves for marriage, but we cannot put them in a box and isolate them from purity talk. the last time i checked, sin is sin. there isn't one sin that is worse than another.  Jesus died for all of us and all our sin.  

i wish i could take each girl or woman who has felt this pain or had these thoughts and just hug her. i'd tell her that she is not her past. she is not her mistakes. she is not her shame. and she is most definitely not less than. i would cry with her and tell her that she is forgiven and she is redeemed. i would tell her that sin was nailed to the cross with Jesus, and when He exclaimed "it is finished!", sweet sister, HE MEANT IT. isaiah 53:3-6 says, "He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. we turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. yet it was our weaknesses He carried; it was our sorrows that weighed Him down. and we thought His troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for His own sins! but He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. all of us, like sheep, have strayed away. we have left God’s paths to follow our own. yet the Lord laid on Him the sins of us all."

so we could be whole.
so we could be healed.

i can't help but think about the story of rahab. homegirl was a prostitute. when israelite spies came to scout the land, rahab hid them on her roof from soldiers of the city guard. i love what she says to the spies: "no wonder our hearts have melted in fear! no one has the courage to fight after hearing such things. for the Lord your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below." this woman, a harlot, put her faith in God. the spies didn't bring up her past or move on to someone without a tarnished reputation. when the walls of jericho fell, her and her family were saved. despite her shameful choices and tainted past, the Lord saw her faith. and if you still don't believe that God can forgive you, rahab is part of the lineage of Jesus Christ and is referenced in the first gospel. her faith is mentioned in hebrews 11:31 among the likes of noah, sarah, and jacob. that is love. that is grace. that is redemption.

friend, if you are reading this and feel the shame and guilt of your past, please believe this: Jesus can make you whole, and He can heal your wounds. come to Him as you are; He will meet you wherever you are. no matter the sin, He is ready to forgive, restore, and renew.

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