1 Corinthians 10:31 – “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.”
Colossians 3:17 – “And whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
In my role as an intimacy counselor, I have the frequent privilege of sitting with individuals who for the first time in their lives start telling their stories of sexual sin, abuse, trauma, shame, and embarrassments.
For many of my clients, these stories are what prevent them from seeing their spouses in a healthy way but more destructively, their view of God is obscured due to silence in their lives… fear that if their story is known they will be rejected, unloved, cast away… abandoned… in telling their stories they risk more trauma, a risk many will not take. And yet the words of 1 Corinthians 10:31, and Colossians 3:17 are not changed and are challenging: “everything” and “all” must be done for God’s glory… our sexual stories need redeeming for God’s glory. I am not suggesting that someone be forced to heal now for God’s glory; what I’ve experienced is that God leads you to the right time and place for healing for His glory… only He knows when the right timing is for you to find His sanctification for you in your deepest wounds.
I am thankful to see in recent years more church ministries like Re-Engage, Steps, Regeneration, and other groups become more popular, inviting, and grace-filled in their approaches to these sensitive topics. Paul tells us to not be overcome by evil but to overcome evil with good – Romans 12:21. God created sexuality (“everything” and “all”) as a special means of bringing Him glory in the world around us… if we are to find the goodness that can overcome sexual evils in our lives, we need to let Christ teach us what sexual goodness He has in store for all of us.
As I said at the beginning, it is a privilege to see this process unfold in the counseling office… to see the sexual brokenness that becomes the sexual wholeness surrendered to the work and healing of God. For some of you reading this, the concept of talking about God and sexuality in the same sentence may bring embarrassment or shame or for some even disgust… I get it! I walked that road! But as Dr. Howard Hendricks has said, “We should not be ashamed to discuss what God was not ashamed to create.”1
Maybe considering that the cross can redeem anything, will help you bring your story before God and find that His grace is greater than all sin (Romans 5:20)… done by you or to you. Find a safe place to tell your story that “everything” in your life may become His glory.
Slattery, Juli. “Rethinking Sexuality.” Pg. 32. Multnomah Publishing. New York. 2018.