I don’t know where you are as you read this today.
Maybe you are one of the 17.7 million American women who has been the victim of rape or attempted rape.
Maybe you have had an abortion–something 1 in 3 American women do by age 45.
Maybe you are among the 18% of women who regularly use the Internet for sexual purposes.
Maybe you are struggling because deep down you believe your problems in the bedroom mean there’s a problem with you. Sex is painful or boring or just one more thing on your to-do list. Maybe you don’t want to trust your husband with your body because right now you can’t trust him with your heart. Maybe there’s secret shame you’re hiding, or maybe you’ve sat in congregations and listened to pastors talk about modesty on one hand and 30 day sex challenges on the other and wished they’d all just make up their minds.
There is hope. And his name is Jesus.
Jesus brings healing to all our brokenness–even our sexual brokenness. He’s done it before.
Remember the woman at the well? 5 husbands, and living with a man who wasn’t her husband? Jesus confronted her sin, but he didn’t shame her. He offered her living water–he offered her himself–and he made her a mother in Israel and a missionary to her people.
Then there was the woman caught in adultery. Jesus didn’t pick up a stone. His words made her accusers drop their stones and slink away. He refused to condemn her and sent her away, telling her to go and sin no more.
There was the “sinful woman” (Luke 7:37) who crashed a banquet to anoint Jesus feet with perfume, washing his feet with her tears and wiping them with her hair. Jesus didn’t recoil from her touch. He accepted her worship and pronounced her forgiven.
Mary Magdalene was afflicted by seven demons. Tradition says she was a prostitute, though the biblical text never does. I personally doubt that, since Mary had enough financial resources to help support Jesus in his ministry (Luke 8:1-3). Still, odds are a woman afflicted by seven demons knew sexual brokenness. Satan’s mean and those are the games he likes to play. But Jesus–Jesus set her free. She was welcomed among the disciples. And Mary was the first to see the risen Savior. Satan stole her past. Jesus gave her a future.
People will tell you there are other ways to get free. Read this book, watch this movie, don’t be so uptight. Everybody’s doing it; just get over it; do what feels right. But here’s the truth: our freedom is only found in Jesus.
Jesus is our hope. If you have been wounded and beaten up by someone’s sin against you, Jesus is waiting to heal your hurts and set you free. If you struggle with the shackles of sin weighing down your steps, Jesus won’t turn you away. Turn to him, and he’ll run to welcome you home.
Wherever you are tonight, I want you to know there is hope in Jesus. Don’t keep suffering in silence. Run to Jesus. And find someone to tell. Focus on the Family can help you find a counselor near you.
How does Jesus give you hope? Share a verse of hope in the comments.
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