The Gift of Gender | Genesis 1:26-31

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Scripture: Genesis 1:26-31

Key Takeaways:

+ God made us male and female to bear his image

- Matthew 19:3-6

+ Our bodies are a good gift from God and tell us who we are

“This is hugely important. If the body is merely a vehicle or a costume for the real you, then it is the equivalent of property. But we know this can’t really be the case. However much we might privilege the mind or soul over the body as the ‘real’ us, we know deep down that the body is an essential part of who we truly are. When people hurt your body, you know that they have not just damaged some of your property; they have violated you. What you do to someone’s body, you do to a person… We cannot escape our embodied-ness. Alastair Roberts sums it up neatly: ‘The body isn’t just something that clothes the self but is itself the self.” – Sam Allberry. What God has to say about our Bodies.

+ Some people feel an incongruence between their biological sex and their internal sense of self

“In many Western countries, we’ve seen a massive spike in teenagers questioning their gender. For instance, the Tavistock Centre in London, the main gender clinic in the United Kingdom, treated 51 (34 males, 17 females) children and teenagers in 2009 who had gender dysphoria or were identifying as trans*. In 2016, the same clinic saw 1,766 (557 males, 1,209 females) children and teenagers, and in 2019 it saw 2,364 (624 males, 1,740 females). That’s more than 5000% increase among females in 10 years. Researchers have documented similar upsurges, among biological females in particular, in many Western countries: Sweden, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States.” – Preston Sprinkle. Embodied: Transgender Identities, the Church, and What the Bible Has to Say.

+ Our hope is in transformation not transition

“Christian discipleship is oriented toward living out the divine image that God created us to be. Sexed bodies are part of that image. Ontologically then, transitioning would be moving us further away from who we are, not bringing us closer to it.” – Preston Sprinkle. Embodied: Transgender Identities, the Church, and What the Bible Has to Say.

- Romans 12:1-2

- 2 Corinthians 5:17

+ See people as image bearers that are to be loved, protected, and cared for

+ Develop convictions not just gut reactions

+ Parents, own and exercise your authority compassionately

+ Seek to be a welcoming community that listens, learns, loves, and shares the truths with compassion and patience

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