My grades are horrible, and I feel stupid all the time. I try and fail, try and fail, try and fail. Should I just quit school? Should I just STOP eating anything? Should I go off and have sex to get my friends off my back? HELP ME, SUSIE!

Ugly Fat Stupid Virgin

Dear Beautiful:
I refuse to address you in the way you signed your letter, and your note breaks my heart. I hear your desperation, and I’d love to give you a big bear hug right now and just speak words of beauty and affirmation to you for a whole hour! I’d love to hold your chin in my hands and just tell you over and over and over how amazing you are!

Because I can’t do that, I’m glad Someone else can, and He’s actually much better at it than I! That Someone is Christ. And He loves you with an everlasting love. He created you in His image, and He delights in you!

So instead of taking my word for it, check out what He has to say! You are God’s workmanship (Ephesians 2:10); you are seated with Christ in the heavenly realm (Ephesians 2:6), and you may approach God with freedom and confidence (Ephesians 3:12). Bottom line: You’re incredibly special!

I’m sorry students are persecuting you because of your virginity, but that’s to be expected. God said we’d have tribulation, but the good news? He has a special blessing for those being persecuted: “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10).

Remain strong in your commitment to purity. Find a friend who will engage in fun exercise with you (skate, walk, bike) and strive to make healthy eating choices. But most of all? Keep your eyes on your heavenly Father!

Dear Susie:
Do you keep articles from old editions of the mag? I’d love to get some older issues and read about music artists you’ve covered in the past.

Curious

Dear Curious:
We have an archive file. In other words, for our own records we keep a few copies of each magazine ever published. But it’s only a few copies, and they’re not available to be released. BUT . . . we’ve posted most of our past interviews on our Web site: briomag.com.

Dear Susie:
I really want a purity ring, but I don’t know how to get one. I’d like to have one, because I want to stay pure until that special someone comes along. I don’t want to end up like the pregnant teens who drop out of school and become the person whom everyone’s talking about.

Wanting

Dear Wanting:
I’m excited that you want to remain sexually pure, but a purity ring won’t make that happen. It’s the power of your commitment to Christ and His strength within you that will help you maintain sexual purity.

You say you want to remain pure until that “special someone comes along.” That’s not good enough. God wants you to maintain your purity until your wedding night. You may actually have many special someone’s in your life, but that’s not reason to give away your purity.

Because God created sex, He knows when and how it works best. And guess what: that’s always in the context of marriage. Please get with a mature female Christian (your mom, Sunday school teacher, adult friend) to discuss your relationship with God and set specific dating guidelines that will help guard your purity. The best place we’ve found for a wide variety of purity jewelry is factory79.com.