By Jackie Hill Perry | Amazon.com | 208 pages
Published in September of 2018
SUMMARY: Gay Girl Good God is a story of redemption not from the clutches of homosexuality, but of a life lived devoid of God. Jackie Hill Perry’s story fills the reader with hope not because it claims that its pages contain the secret to “curing” homosexuality, but because it points just one thing – God.
Perry’s testimony tells a story of one defining moment in which God appeared in her life, plucked her from an unhealthy lifestyle, and brought her to himself. “I know now what I didn’t know then. God was not calling me to be straight; He was calling me to Himself.” That sums up what the church needs to know. Instead of finding a quick fix, we need to see gay people for who they are: people.
She understands the grander picture. If you are same-sex attracted, this desire will not magically change. “To be cleansed by Jesus, they presume, is to be immune to the enticement of sin. This, we know not to be true…” As with any deviation from the Bible, any temptation, one has to fight, struggle, be tempted, and then struggle some more. Being crucified to Christ means taking up a cross daily.
Perry doesn’t find her identity in sexuality which is what current culture leads us to believe. “I don’t believe it is wise or truthful to the power of the gospel to identify oneself by the sins of one’s past or the temptations of one’s present but rather to only be defined by the Christ who’s overcome both for those He calls His own.” Perry knew that marriage was not the end-all. She found contentment in her singleness, in herself, in serving a good God.
In short, her writing, filled with joy, hope, and full of purpose, was a breath of fresh air.
KEY QUOTE: “In my becoming Holy as He is, I would not be miraculously made into a woman that didn’t like women; I’d be made into a woman that loved God more than anything.”
BONUS: Don’t have time to read the book? Listen or watch Jackie Hill Perry talk about her book in an excellent conversation on Chrystal’s Chronicles podcast.
DID YOU KNOW?: Sunday to Saturday has a Good Reads page where we post all of the books we have read – even the ones that didn’t make the cut.
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