Most Christians have heard the verse from Psalm 139 that says “You knitted me together in the womb”. Some Christians believe that to be literal, in that God actually, specifically and intentionally created your unique body and everything about you exactly as you are.

It’s a nice thought—that God took the time out of His busy day every day, every second for nine months to make sure you met your individual and perfect specifications when you left the womb.

But you didn’t, did you.

None of us did.

So what happened? The Bible says God knitted us together in the womb, he intended us to come out exactly as we did. Well, maybe not. Let’s look at that verse again and a few that follow…

It’s a nice thought—that God took the time out of His busy day every day, every second for nine months to make sure you met your individual and perfect specifications when you left the womb.

Psalm 139:13-16 says this: “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”

As you read it you read our frame was not HIDDEN from Him, that He SAW our unformed substance, that He already KNEW the days that were before us. Those words imply a passive role, in that He was well aware of us from the beginning, and as a loving God cared about us from the very beginning. But he didn’t micromanage nor interfere in our formation, just as he doesn’t micromanage or interfere in our daily life.

If this bothers you, let me ask you a few questions… Why did God tell Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? He created everything in Heaven and Earth, and He created the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God didn’t have to create the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He could have left that one, singular thing out and everything literally would have been PERFECT and the opportunity to choose to disobey would have never existed! But He didn’t leave it out. God included the tree because for us to be able to show God that we truly love Him, we needed to be able to CHOOSE to love Him. Love isn’t love unless we choose to love. Ask any married couple. Infatuation and physical attraction may have brought a couple together, but after 20, 30, 40 years? Love is a choice. It’s a decision you make.

So since we chose wrong in the garden, we allowed sin and the imperfection that comes with it into our existence. That imperfection was evident in the very second generation of humanity. In the first two sons of Adam and Eve, Cain and Able, we see what sin has done. It lead to jealousy and murder—in ONE generation!

Now I don’t know what race Adam and Eve were when God created them, but look at the wonderful variety we have on Earth now. Look at the various skin tones, hair colors, physical characteristics like shape of our eyes, or how tall (or not) we are, freckles, etc.

So how did all these variations come into being? Whether you want to call it evolution, divine design in our DNA or anything else, the fact is that none of us are made in the perfection that God intended when Adam and Eve were created.

When a baby is born without arms and legs, did God weave it to be so? When a child in the womb is so malformed that it doesn’t survive being born, was that God’s design? Was that part of His perfect plan?

My spiritual mom’s first child died from SIDS at only 4 months old. Did God take her? Did He decide that the baby’s time on Earth was over? When someone dies from being shot by a gun, did God pull the trigger? Did he put the victim there on purpose so that they would be killed?

I know I’m being dramatic, but I’m trying to make a point.

I hope at this point you would agree that God doesn’t DESIGN babies to die at birth, be born without limbs, even have people develop diseases like cancer and Parkinson’s later in life. And yet it happens. It happens because our world is filled with flaws and imperfection since Adam and Eve enjoyed a piece of fruit.

Everyone I know who is transgender has KNOWN that their identity didn’t match their bodies for as long as they can remember. I certainly know it’s true for me. Likewise everyone I know who is transgender didn’t CHOOSE to be transgender. I know people who are under unbearable stress because they are transgender, they KNOW they are the gender that doesn’t match their body, yet because they are married and have children are trying to find a way to make life work, when there is no door that makes everyone involved happy. Anyone who would say “well you just have to live with it” is speaking from the greatest level of ignorance there is.

Being transgender often (and I’ll add VERY often) gets mixed with homosexuality which for many Christians is a problem (a problem that I think has holes in it, but that’s not what I’m talking about here).

Being transgender is not about sleeping with someone, it’s not about having sex with someone. It’s about integrity. The integrity of knowing who you are, how you are wired and how you are best able to relate to the world we all live in. It’s not about your genitals, it’s about your brain. I promise you once a person who is transgender makes the decision to transition and live as the gender they are wired to be, many find themselves wondering “am I now gay since I still love the same person before I transitioned?” Life gets incredibly complicated when you are transgender.

The most often response I get from well-meaning but incredibly ignorant Christians is to ask God to “heal” them. Some Christians will go so far to say if you’re transgender you couldn’t possibly be a Christian, so you need to turn your life over to Christ to “overcome” Satan’s hold on you.

Being a follower of Jesus isn’t complicated, isn’t filled with a lot of rules.

Many Christians think your ACTIONS, how you live determines if you’re a Christian. But Jesus (you remember Him) said ALL people will know that you are my disciples, if you have LOVE for one another”. And that’s where my well-meaning Christians will say I love you, but your life says you’re not a Christian, when they really don’t KNOW the life they are talking about.

When it comes down to what it is to be a Christian, we have this to go by… In Acts 16 the Apostle Paul was asked by his jailer “what must we do to be saved?”. Paul’s response was “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ”. That sounds pretty simple. When Jesus was hanging on the cross with two criminals, one of them realizing who Jesus was asked Jesus to remember him when Jesus entered His kingdom, and Jesus said “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23)

Being a follower of Jesus isn’t complicated, isn’t filled with a lot of rules. In many ways today’s church has become like the Israel of the Old Testament and feels like it has to follow a long list of rules to be “approved” by our Lord in Heaven.

Being transgender is well, just another one of those odd things that happen at birth that we can’t explain, along with the plethora of other things that happen that we still can’t explain. But many, and I mean MANY who are transgender love the Lord with all their heart, all their soul and all their mind (Matthew 22:37). They nor I can change the fact that we’re transgender, and as Christians we seek fellowship with other Christians.

It’s so disappointing and so sad that so many churches are okay with putting up barriers for those who are transgender. Some of those barriers are block walls, saying “you’re not welcome here, don’t come in and never come back”. Others are “as long as we don’t know, you’re welcome here”. Then there are those that welcome you knowing you are transgender, allow you to contribute and be a part of the church… up to a point. But because you’re transgender, and without explanation, you’re not given a place to grow as they would want everyone else who isn’t transgender to grow.

God is not a puppet master that dictates every facet of our existence. Each of us is who we are based on a complex mix of DNA, circumstances in the womb and events throughout our lives that make us who we are today.

To assume someone else’s imperfection despite their claiming Christ is to think God has a checklist, and your checklist of bad marks passes and theirs doesn’t, means you’ve totally missed the entire reason Christ died for you and me. And I feel sorry for you and I only hope you’re not teaching others to think like you.

-Blessings

Please click here to “LIKE” my Facebook page, help me reach the Church and Christians who are transgender.

“God Doesn’t Make Mistakes” now available
at Amazon and at Audible

Sign up now and get my new posts sent to your inbox.
No spam and your email address will not be sold or given to anyone – ever!