Rapper Jackie Hill-Perry discusses turning away from lesbian desires, surrendering to Jesus Christ
Christian rapper and former lesbian Jackie Hill-Perry discussed in a recent interview with The Gospel Coalition how she learned to overcome her predisposed same-sex attraction and abandoned the behavior, surrendering her life to Jesus Christ.
“If God chooses not to change my desires, he has promised to give me his Holy Spirit that will help me flee from them,” she said of those inner attractions. “There are people who were alcoholics for 20 years, went through rehab and they don’t drink anymore, but sometimes they may be tested. If they see a bottle of whiskey, they’re going to want that whisky, but they have a choice.”
Hill-Perry stated that it helped her turn her life around when she realized that “only Jesus can make me whole,” noting how helpful the church leaders were to her, ministering spiritually but not set to isolate her sexuality from the rest of her. They instead treated her as a whole person.
She said that after meeting with church leaders, she realized her struggle with homosexuality was much bigger than she had thought and she needed to deal with her “hatred, bitterness, laziness, gluttony, lack of stewardship, pride.”
“When I was able to see that all of me needed Jesus, all of me needed to be whole and all of me needed to be disciplined, that’s what helped me. Because it kind of humbles you where [I said] ‘I’m real messed up because it’s not this one little fraction of me. It’s all of me.’ And I’m able to really crawl to Jesus and know He can fix me,” she continued.
After accepting Christ in 2008, Hill-Perry was able to leave behind her old lifestyle and is now married to fellow artist Preston Perry with whom she has a daughter.
After her conversion, Hill-Perry wrote several articles on Christianity and homosexuality. She asserts that Christians must hold true to the Word of God if we believe it is what it claims to be–God-inspired.
“I think we’ve made God very little if we believe that he cannot change people,” Hill-Perry stated. “If he can make a moon, stars and a galaxy that we have yet to fully comprehend, how can he not simply change my desires?”