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"Gay" Brother Tells Homophobic Sister He's Gay: A Story of God's Grace by Ruby Littleton "Please don't think I'm disgusting. Please don't hate me ... I'm gay." These were the words my younger brother said to me between sobs on the phone one night, just a little over a year ago. Consequently, these were also the words that changed my life. I remember the wave of shock, disbelief, and even grief that swept over me as I waited to hear what words would come tumbling over my numb lips. In a moment like that, when time suddenly stops and a number of questions and doubts whirl around inside of you, God speaks. Here's what came out of my mouth, by the grace of God ... "I love you." Up until then, my attitude toward homosexuals had been anything but loving. I grew up with the mentality of the rest of my small town: "If you're gay, don't talk about it; move far away and never come back." My stomach churned at the mere mention of homosexuality and I inwardly burned with rage toward anyone who claimed to be gay. And now, my little brother, who I've been so close to for all my life, tells me he's gay. A funny thing happened though. When the words "I love you" came out of my mouth (while my brother was hanging by a thread on the other end of the line to see if I would disown him or not), I suddenly realized that I am not better than my brother because he's gay and I'm not. Astonishingly, I didn't feel the usual seething rage and disgust that came with the mention of homosexuality. As my little brother cried on the other end of the line and proceeded to tell me how he's been keeping everything bottled up for more than ten years and all the pain he's suffered since he discovered he was gay, God just melted my heart. There's no other way to describe it. I suddenly became very aware of the thick tar of sin on my heart and at the same time felt this sensation of God washing all that black tar off of it. I was humbled and broken. My brother came out of the closet to me, but instead of letting me continue the tradition of bashing gay people, God put a mirror in front of my face and forced me to look long and hard at my own sin. This time it was painfully real and personal. This is my brother whom I love so dearly ... my gay brother. Then it hit me that God really loves me despite my history of judging and condemning homosexuals (definitely not my place to do that), and God really loves my brother, too. How can I be so loved and not love my brother? It's pretty amazing how God works. He took me from loathing gay people ... enter gay brother ... to wanting to really get to know and hug every gay person I meet. It's such a radical change, courtesy of our Heavenly Father. We have such a loving God, a God who IS love. We must, must, must extend the love we receive from Him to others — even those who have drastically different lifestyles than us. "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." (1 Peter 4:8) I do not know what God will do in this situation in the future, and that's okay. What I do know is this ... God chooses to love me where I'm at every day, and therefore I will choose to love my little brother every day, regardless of whether he's gay or straight. You can never go wrong with love.