Sacred & Same Sex Attracted

Embracing Sacred by Design: A Journey for Women with Same-Sex Attraction

As we are rolling in our season 2 of 'Sacred by Design,' Andrea & Kyle dive deep into the intention and heart behind the concept of being 'sacred by design,' specifically addressing women who love Jesus and struggle with same-sex attraction. 
They discuss the importance of seeing oneself through God's perspective, recognizing sacredness and design as divine attributes regardless of personal struggles. The conversation serves as an open invitation for listeners to embrace their identity in Christ, free from shame, and to explore their unique paths of following Jesus while challenging societal norms. Kyle and Andrea emphasize the personal and introspective nature of this journey, encouraging listeners to trust in God's design and love for them.

Contact us today: If you have a question, comment, or need help, email us at info@regenerationministries.org

Free Resources for you!

👉Women 21-Day Prayer Journal & Devotional - (Women overcoming unwanted sexual Behavior)
👉Compass 21-Day Prayer Journal & Devotional - (Wives who are or have been impacted by partner betrayal)

Transcript

Embracing Sacred Identity

Speaker 1 0:22

All right, kyle, you're here, I'm here, we're back, we're back. Season two, season number two. You're going to repeat everything, everything, everything. All right, season number two Sacred by Design. We're going deeper, or, yeah, we're going deeper, into understanding Sacred by Design, our heart behind it, our intentionality behind it, for sure, and to speak to all the women that we see through coaching and programs. There are so many layers of what Sacred by Design is meant to mean for each woman, certainly, but today we're going to talk to the woman who struggles with same-sex attraction and loves Jesus, yes, and wonders right where she fits in there where she fits in here in this conversation and right away.

Speaker 1 1:22

If that is you, if you are a woman who loves Jesus and struggles with same-sex attraction, you are welcome in this place, you are welcome in this conversation and this is for you. Yeah, there's a seat here, that's right and it is cozy. Yes, there's plenty of room, so let's get started. Okay, let's get started, because I know when we were brainstorming about the name, know when we were brainstorming about the name, about the heart behind this podcast, there is within anybody that you encounter in this office, in this space, in this ministry, I have found myself.

Speaker 1 1:57

There is such an an invitation yes, yeah, and so I hope this conversation feels like an invitation to consider. I love Jesus. This is in my heart and I'm not sure what to do with it. So what's the invitation?

Speaker 2 2:16

I think the invitation is to start taking the step toward believing who God says you are, no matter what you are dealing with, and if you feel like same-sex attraction is set you apart from other women, jesus is saying no, you're in this space, we're all here together and I want you here, right? So that invitation is can you be willing to open your heart and trust that Jesus is for you and what he says about you is true?

Speaker 1 2:57

So there you have it, right off the bat. What sets you apart is not this behavior, not this choice. That's not what sets you apart. Behavior, not this choice, that's not what sets you apart. What sets you apart is Jesus' plan, jesus' invitation and his truth about you. So what is the truth about her?

Speaker 2 3:16

I think there's two things to look at, like if we look at the words separately. If we look at sacred, it is so easy, as a person who struggles with same-sex attraction, to go nothing's sacred about this, nothing's sacred about me, and I can't even get to sacred Like. That's just a place I can never be because of what I'm dealing with in my own heart. I can never be because of what I'm dealing with in my own heart, and part of that is how do you shift your perspective from you where you are and shift it to how God sees you? Right, because you are a child of God. That's what marks your sacredness. You are set apart just because you are a human being created by God. That's, you know, the first thing. And so, as opposed to trying to work toward becoming sacred, can you receive that? You're already sacred, can you do?

Speaker 1 4:23

that. Can you do that? And that's a big question, mm-hmm.

Speaker 2 4:28

And I think part of the way to get there is then look at design. If you talk to women who are struggling with same-sex attraction, as I am very well acquainted with, you think that there's something flawed about your design, that somewhere something happened in your being created that made you this way, and, whether it was from the womb, whether it was from your environment, there was something that made your design broken. And so then you think, well then I've got to do all the things to put it together. But again, can you shift that to be able to say, no, wait, like, my design is good, there's nothing wrong with it Because, again, I was created by the most wonderful designer ever and I don't have to dress up stuff, I don't have to try to put myself together so that my design is appealing to everybody around me.

Speaker 2 5:45

All I have to do is can I receive the truth of who I am? And some of that means the lens that you're looking at life through. You know here's. You know I wear glasses. You have some glasses on your head and you know how you go to the. You know you go to the eye doctor and they put that phoropter thing and they go. Okay, can you see better, One or two can you see better, and they start flipping until you can see. Well, and I think some of that is how do we start to take away the dirty lenses we've been looking through so that we can see Jesus fully? And we can see him fully and know how he feels toward us. It's so much easier than to receive who he says you are.

Speaker 1 6:32

So here's the thing is that the world has offered a really unique lens, and that lens is this is my body, this is my choice, I do me, you do you. So how do we start the question, the process of even taking that lens away, or considering differently, minus the shame, because that's the goal. There's no shame here. This is an opportunity to see differently, and I like the fact that it is so. What you're talking about is so introspective, in a relationship with God, with Jesus. This is me and him. Yeah, what does he say? But the world is really loud, yeah.

Speaker 2 7:20

Yeah, and it takes some work to even shut out these other voices, but I think one of the ways to shut out the voices is to really start the honest dialogue with God. You can ask the question well, why do I even feel this way? You know, if you want to get mad and say, and you want to blame God and say, god, I think you made me this way. I think, just being able to be honest and know that you can be honest with the Lord, just like you can be honest with the friend that you feel like, well, if I tell them I'll feel this way, then they'll accept me because they know, you know that's what the world says and it's okay. But understanding that Jesus wants to offer you something that's so much greater and I don't know if we always understand that there is something greater than where we feel like we are.

Speaker 1 8:15

Yeah.

Speaker 2 8:15

Right, because you feel like okay, well, this is who I am. So how do I adapt to this to make myself feel good? And Jesus is saying what if I can take away that stuff and bring you to this place that you never thought you'd even be before? And that's scary. Right, because you know you hold on to some stuff, because you're used to it, you're familiar with that stuff and you're like you know I'm not letting this go. But why not take the risk? Like, if you're willing to take the risk to tell somebody I'm coming out, why not take the other? Why not try a different risk and go? Okay, jesus, like this is where I feel like I am. What do you have for me?

Discovering Sacred Identity and Design

Speaker 1 9:02

Yeah, what does that feel like? As a woman who loves Jesus and is experiencing those feelings, can I ask you how it felt for you? Was it in your gut? Was it in your head? Were your thoughts shifting? What did it feel like?

Speaker 2 9:23

You know, it felt like you were viewing the world from a different perspective, were like you were viewing the world from a different perspective, like it was. Like the way that you thought you were seeing things is not the real deal. And and I think, when I could, when I had the ability to, to just really go at the basic level and say what does it mean to be a follower of Christ?

Speaker 1 9:50

That's it, that's all.

Speaker 2 9:52

Like I'm not. You know, I'm not worried about this, I wasn't worried about okay. What does it mean for me to change? What is it? You know?

Speaker 1 9:59

all of that, it's important to hear yes.

Reflecting Jesus

Speaker 2 10:01

What does it just mean to follow Jesus? And as you start to take those steps, you have these encounters with him and lots of light balls start to come on. Oh wait, a minute Like this isn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.

Speaker 1 10:22

But this doesn't sound prescriptive. It's not, because this is not what we do. This is not a program, this is not a perspective.

Speaker 2 10:29

This is about a relationship to discover what following Jesus means and you know what it looks. Different, different people, right, like Jesus, might decide that if you are a runner, he might decide to encounter you in that space of running. To encounter you in that space of running, or if you like to work out or if you like to sew, whatever it is that you enjoy, like Jesus wants to be in that with you and reveal himself in that way to you. Because I think too, especially if you're dealing with women who feel like I never really felt like a woman, like where they felt like you know, I just I didn't like the dolls, I didn't. You know, I'd rather climb trees and play with trucks, yeah, and they go like that's probably what Jesus wants from me.

Speaker 2 11:20

And he's like I never said that. That's right. Yeah, he's like I never said that. Yeah, and understanding that the likes and dislikes that you have, the things that you are drawn to, are the ways in which Jesus can use those things so that you best reflect him to the world. So there's a reason that he made you a girl who likes to climb trees and a girl who likes trucks.

Speaker 1 11:46

Part of the design.

Speaker 2 11:48

Exactly, yeah, likes to climb trees, and a girl who likes trucks, and a girl Part of the design, exactly. And so he designed you that way, because when you can express yourself that way, somebody gets to meet Jesus through you in that. And so even consider that, consider being sacred. By design means I, you know, I'm taking in all of the stuff that the Lord has given me as gifts and the things that I love, and I don't let those things go and then I let people meet him through me in this, those things. If you play softball, you don't know how the way you start to live out your life for Jesus can start to affect people around you who play softball.

Speaker 1 12:41

It's the design and it's so tailored. That's what I discovering your sacredness tailored. That's what I discovering your sacredness. It takes time to discover your design and ask god what he wants to do with that in order to reflect that differently.

Speaker 2 12:56

Yeah, and are you willing? Are you willing to even take the step of claiming it before it even feels true?

Speaker 1 13:07

Right.

Speaker 2 13:08

What might it be like to say, to declare and say, no, I am sacred bodies. I might not even feel like it, but I am that.

Speaker 1 13:23

There's this section of Exodus 14 that I thought of when we were about to meet today, and it's when Moses stretches his hand out over the sea and the Lord drove the sea back all the night long and turned the sea into dry land, and there's waters on either side and then the Pharaoh's army's behind coming in close, and I imagine those Israelites with the pressure of Pharaoh's army coming in close behind them, and then this path in front of them that's been made by God for them, it might be kind of comfortable to look back at Pharaoh and be like, well, at least I know where that goes. I mean, it's right there and I've been there before and I know how that's going to end up. Go with the devil, you know right, right. And if the world is saying, hey, this is fine, this is fine, and the pressure, the pressure, the pressure Claiming, taking the time to consider, but what if? What if I take that step onto that dry land, as crazy and wild as it is, onto that dry land, as crazy and wild as it is?

Speaker 1 14:28

We know from our own stories how crazy and wild and detailed God can be, yes, and so I feel like if you and I were Israelite women in that story. We'd link arms and be like come on, come on, let's go, let's go. It's crazy. I mean, I see fish there.

Speaker 2 14:45

Yeah.

Speaker 1 14:45

And there's a whole wall of water right there, right, and no, we're not doing that anymore, let's go this way. We don't know what's happening next.

Speaker 2 14:53

And there's no shame in feeling the tug. Yes, there's no shame in that. You can feel shame because you're tugging kind of back that way and you can kind of still feel like, well, maybe, yeah, but that's okay. You know what does it mean still to go and turn? And I bet if some of these women who are listening would think about other times in their lives when they have felt the tug for something else and then they said no, you know what, I'm going this way, yeah, like remember that. Yeah, so that you know you have the ability to do it because you've done it before.

Speaker 1 15:35

Yeah, yeah there's a lot that you've mentioned about choice. This is a chance to pivot, to look differently, to consider differently and not with a prescription in mind.

Speaker 2 15:51

Right.

Speaker 1 15:52

Not with an end of like. It looks like marriage. It looks like that's not the goal.

Speaker 2 15:58

Yeah, it's not like you know the perfect whatever Ten. I scored a ten yeah.

Encouragement

Speaker 1 16:06

Yeah, no, because that's prescriptive and that's generic. This is God we're talking about. Yes, he is so creative and so loving and has made each one of us so different that our stories are going to look different. Our desires, our wants, our needs are going to be so different, yes, and how we reflect him is going to be so different. That's a wild ride. It is a wild ride, but it's. It's a great ride. Yeah, so if you were sitting right here, we would link arms with you and be like let's just take this step, let's go and and you know what baby steps are still steps forward.

Speaker 2 16:38

So you don't have to. You don't have to scale the mountain. You don't have to scale the mountain. You don't have to scale the mountain. Get on the top, drive in the flag, right. If you can only make it one level up, start one level up.

Speaker 1 16:57

Is there anything else we need to cover here?

Speaker 2 17:00

I think we have given folks a lot of things to think about already. I think so too. Yeah, it's a big invitation it is, and I hope they feel the pull to accept the invitation and go for it.

Speaker 1 17:18

You've got two major encouragers on the couch right now.

Speaker 2 17:20

Yeah.

Speaker 1 17:22

And we have seen how God moves, we have felt and known for ourselves how God moves. And the invitation is before you.

Speaker 2 17:30

It is so come on, take seated to couch.

Speaker 1 17:36

Thanks, Kyle.

Speaker 2 17:37

Thank you, andrea, that was awesome.