Hey Shakes, sorry if this is a weird thing to ask!! Do you have any advice for a Christian trying to fit their gender identity or attraction (or lack thereof loll) in with their faith? No pressure, thank you and love your art <3

Heyyyyy so uh... Sorry it's taken me so long to get to this. I've been thinking really hard about what to say, because I know it's important.

I guess... The people of God are supposed to be varied and vibrant and beautifully different from one another. We're a people of all nations. We can't possibly know why we're chosen by God, but we are, and when we're chosen as his people, he chooses all of us. Everything that we are is chosen.

My advice is to pray and pray, honestly. I know it's not easy, for me it was utterly devastating to spend nights on my knees praying to be normal, to have the weirdness taken away, but God never did. I still don't have any sexual attraction to men. I still don't fit into the world's expectation of me, and I have to conclude that, whatever everyone else says, that's God's plan for me.

We have evidence in the Bible of the 'rules' changing. We have to rely on the holy spirit to tell us God's will, and we only get there by prayer.

But my other big piece of advice is - guard your heart. If you talk about this to other Christians, you're more than likely to not be listened to. That's my experience. They won't listen because they have three Bible verses to point to and tell you you're wrong (and they're ignoring the 70+ verses that tell them to love first and ask questions later). They won't listen to your point of view. You'll get sick of the same lecture time and again, and the assumption that you don't know about it already. So pick and choose very carefully who you open up to, and surround yourself with people who will genuinely listen to your point of view, whether they agree with you or not. God know what's in your heart and soul, and he loves and accepts you the way that he made you. A lot of his people aren't yet ready to accept that.

I know I haven't gone into the Bible too deeply. That's not because I can't, or I haven't read it - I've read the whole thing through twice, and have 2 years of theological training. I chose not to because it would make this into a looong answer. But also, people would feel entitled to debate me, and I want to protect you from that if I can.

I love you. I'm proud of you. You're not alone. It takes a brave person to say what you've said, and to step out on the journey you're stepping out on. I hope there's at least something in this that's helpful - and if there isn't, then feel free to ask me again!!