Do you think Jesus experienced the same temptation that many transgender people face? Jesus is God—all-powerful, eternal, present everywhere—but two thousand years ago, when he took on flesh, Jesus humbled himself and experienced the weaknesses of the human body. He got hungry, thirsty, tired, exhausted, sad, sorrowful, and overwhelmed. Look how Paul puts it in Philippians 2:8: “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” Jesus knows what it’s like to suffer in a body. Before his resurrection, his body was humble, inglorious, and weak. But the God who saw our broken bodies chose to be broken so we could be whole. And one day, just like Jesus who gloriously rose from the grave (with a body!), our bodies will be made wonderfully new.
The first person to open my eyes to that idea was a young Christian who was dealing with gender dysphoria (the disconnect between the gender she felt and the biological sex God gave to her). It gave her great comfort to know that her Savior knew what she was going through. Even more, she held on to the promise that Jesus is coming back soon to make her new.
Until then, it’s essential that we love one another in the midst of the struggle. We’ll turn to that subject in tomorrow’s devotion.
