Words of Encouragement from a Brother

by Otis.

Greetings,

Our self-confidence, self-esteem, self-respect, and self-worth comes from God. Learning to respect ourselves in every area of our lives. We learn to love ourselves in Christ Jesus, when we do not tolerate any kind of drama, confusion, toxicity, abuse of any kind, and disrespect from anyone.

Learn how to say no, learn to set boundaries and restrictions for all your relationships. Learn how to take proper care of ourselves with the help of The Holy Spirit. Who is The Spirit of Truth. People come into our lives for a season, they come to teach us. They are our lessons to learn.

I had to learn a very hard a valuable lesson a few years ago. I put the burden and responsibility on someone else to make me happy. I had to learn the hard way, that it's no one's job to make me happy. Keep in mind a think long and hard, when it comes to relationships and friendships. Ask yourself do you really want to put with dysfunction, unstable people, and immaturity? I'll leave with Psalms 23 The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want.

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About the Writer

Greeting, my name is Otis and I'm 48 years old. I grew up in the church and always believed in God, Jesus, and The Holy Spirit. I'm a black man and grew up in a all black church. I was raised and brought up on prayer. Coming up as a child I was teased and bullied in church by a few preachers, and a few teachers at school. Some family members called names, kids in the neighborhood and kids at school. Unfortunately, I begin to experience homophobia as a child. This horrible experience led me into a life of rejection still to this day. People in the church in those days and especially in the black community, called gay people all kinds of homophobic slurs and said that we are going to hell. They said that God hates gay people and I believe that lie. So, for years I believe God hated me and that I was a mistake. As a young adult I got back into church and excepted Jesus into my life. God had steadily prove Himself to me and show me that He loves me. Today I know He loves me, because He takes care of me. I struggled with homosexuality all my life and still today. I never had a boyfriend and I've made a decision to remain celibate for God. I stand on Romans 8-28. And we know that all things work together for good, to them that love God; who are the called according to His purposes. God bless Amen.