Dan*, a young man with transsexual struggles, looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders when he spoke to me. It didn’t seem to matter how well he had reconciled his feelings with the truth of God’s Word, someone or something was always coming back into his life with a fresh attempt to cover him in shame.
I have frequently heard, and love, the following distinction between guilt and shame; Guilt is about what you have done. Shame is about who you are. Dan is a young man who is happily married, faithful to his vocation as a husband, a loving husband, and enjoys the respect of his church and Christian community. Of course, Dan is not perfect. None of us are.
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
Romans 3:23-24 ESV
Jesus Christ has paid the full price, not just for my sin or your sin, those things we have done that do not love God with all our being or our neighbor as ourselves, but for the sins of all people in all places and all times. There is no act of comission (what we do) or omission (what we fail to do) for which he has not paid the full punishment. He freely offers us forgiveness and mercy because of his great love for us, available to all who believe. No Christian has any reason to give in to feelings of guilt over what we have done. It has been handled, taken care of, wiped fully off of the record by Jesus Christ.
Shame, though, is an attack by Satan on who we are. Shame does not say, “You have done wrong!” but “You ARE something wrong!” It is a vicious and foul attack, and for the Christian it is a lie straight from hell!
That seems to be an amazing statement from a ministry that deals with people struggling with same-sex attractions, minor-attracted adults, and transsexuals. We preach to free men and convicts facing life behind bars for their crimes. There are many voices, some tragically located inside the church, who shout that such temptations and feelings are signs of God’s rejection, marks of condemnation that puts the struggler outside of God’s love and acceptance.
God’s word provides the truth that destroys this lie! It does not matter what someone’s temptation might be. God’s word has the same Good News of comfort in Jesus Christ.
Here is the first truth, the core verse that destroys the lie that your temptations and feelings alone are a source of guilt or shame, as opposed to what we do about our temptations.
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
1 Corinthians 10:13
Paul, speaking by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, tells us that there is no one, not a transsexual, a same-sex-attracted person, or a minor-attracted person who is not feeling a temptation that isn’t common to man. There are hundreds of thousands, even millions of people in each generation who share these temptations and feelings.
If that wasn’t enough, the person of Christ Himself disproves Satan’s attack that feelings or temptations makes anyone less of a person, or less of a Christian.
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:14-16 ESV
The divinely inspired writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus Christ, while he was here on earth, suffered every temptation in every respect. There is no temptation a Christian might feel, from binge-eating to sexual immorality, that Jesus did not feel in his own person.
Most of us know about the idea of Alcoholics Anonymous and other support groups, where people who share a common struggle listen to one another. They can offer compassion, understanding, support, and advice to one another in the face of their common experience.
My brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus Christ, our perfect high priest, is waiting and available as our support group! He has felt every temptation common to man (and the Bible makes clear that there are no temptations that are not common to man). Not only has he faced our every feeling, but he faced them without failure.
In every place that Satan, the broken world, and our sinful natures tell us that we should feel shame, we have an understanding and loving adoptive Lord and brother. God’s word tells us that Jesus himself is able to have compassion on us in any circumstance. We have his divine invitation to come to him with any of our trials and temptations, and the promise of his loving grace and mercy!
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
1 Peter 5:6-11 ESV
What a great and loving God we have! He eagerly waits to hear our prayers about our struggles! He offers us mercy and compassion that he has completely paid for! More than that, he gives us the comfort and mercy to know that these temptations and trials are just passing things. They are a cloud moving in front of the sun. The clouds will part and the sunshine of God’s relentless love will continue to shine on us in this world and in the next!
These great verses are a blessing and a refuge when the world, the Devil, or our own memories comes to bury our hearts with shame. That grave has been opened. The penalty paid. All that remains is Christ’s love and Freedom for all people in any trial and feeling any temptation. We are all equal at the foot of the cross!
That is excellent news indeed!
*Not his real name
Monument Ministries 