When it comes to matters of human sexuality, the world wants people to think that God in his Bible tries to be the fun and freedom police.

The myth is that because church teaching places restrictions upon what people should do with their bodies that these rules prevent people from being truly happy.

One of the areas where this is claimed is the hot topic of gender identity.

When I grew up there were only two, clear options, but today when you register for Facebook, you can choose from up to 71 different genders.

Far from creating clarity, this only creates confusion, as people are challenged to consider whether their gender identity may be different to that which is listed on their birth certificate.

Yet, God has stated clearly that there are only two sexes, and that the biological sex is the same as the person’s gender, and vice versa.

Which means that other than the rare medical situation of ‘intersex’, we are all born either male or female, and God’s message is that we will find freedom if we learn to live in the skin we’re in.

So, instead of exploring options of other gender identities and the sexual expressions that often result, we should find satisfaction in the gender God’s given us.

Instead of cramping our style, it will free us from the tyranny of choice, and provide us with a confidence that we’re living God’s way.

At the same time, God offers unconditional forgiveness to us when we come to him and apologise for ignoring his clear word about how to live.

This is the freedom that comes from knowing God: the confidence to have forgiveness from our creator, and the promise of eternal life.

God’s plan for our lives is not to cramp our style but to release us from the tyranny of choice in order to give us the privilege of knowing the very best way to live in the world God has made in the bodies he has given to us.

JODIE McNEILL

Given that Jesus is the most perfect, complete man who ever walked on the planet, it sometimes surprise us to think that he experienced genuine emotions.

When I asked my school Scripture class this week to suggest when they thought Jesus got all emotional, some thought it might have been when he was falsely accused or when he experienced the rejection of his own people whom he came to save.

However, one of the most famous times where he expressed his emotion was when he saw first hand the sadness of the sisters of Lazarus, the man who had recently died.

Jesus knew that the pain of the death of his friend would ultimately be used through the ages as a remarkable testimony to the power of Jesus over death, which would bring great glory to God the Father.

Yet even though this was the ultimate aim, it didn’t stop him personally feeling the pain of grief from death.

Jesus knows what it means to experience the loss of a loved one, and he knows how it hurts in ways that words cannot express.

It is for this reason that Jesus is able to truly comfort us when we turn to him in our grief, knowing that he has felt just the same kind of thing that we’ve felt.

But the great power of Jesus comes with the hope that death is ultimately dealt with by his own victory over death, so that the weeping that comes from death will one day cease as God, himself, wipes away our tears.

The power of Jesus over the grave gives us confidence that death is a part of life that will be put behind us as we ultimately pass from this life to the next, safe in the arms of Jesus.

JODIE McNEILL