In my struggle with crossdressing, many Bible verses have been helpful to me. I’ve studied them, memorized some of them, and often read them after failures. I’ll periodically mention and comment on some of them and how they relate to our fight with sexual sin. For those of you who are still struggling, it would surely help you to write some of these down and read them daily, or in times of temptation, or after a failure when you need to be built back up by God’s Word.
1 Peter 1:13-16
13 Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
I would include crossdressing as part of those evil desires we had when we lived in ignorance before we came to know Jesus as our savior. Now God has called us to be holy. Holy means “set apart” and also has the meaning that God wants us to be without sin, holy in character. This means we should look different from the world. As non-Christian men run around in dresses denying who they really are and wasting their time, we should be different. We should focus on being holy as God is holy. And as verse 13 points out, we can have hope. We will not struggle with our temptations for crossdressing forever. Jesus is coming back. He is coming. And when he arrives he shall create all things new, including we ourselves. We will no longer desire sin. We shall be made perfect. So let us wait patiently, with hope, knowing that our struggle with this sin will not last forever. Be alert and ready for Jesus’ coming. When Jesus returns I want him to find me working hard at my job or ministering to others or praising him. I don’t want him to find me locked in my bedroom trying to disguise myself as a woman. Let us eagerly await his coming and strive to live holy lives.
1 Peter 2:9-11
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
The Church has replaced Old Testament Israel as God’s chosen people. We are to be a holy nation of people who stand out from the rest of the world. God called us out of darkness and into his light. When God took me out of crossdressing I had already been a Christian for a long time. I regret that it took me so long to be free from crossdressing addiction. But when it finally happened it was as if God took me out of darkness. It was such a long and miserable struggle continually failing and repenting, but never fully repenting enough to stop crossdressing periodically. Once God gave me the strength to really repent and just decide to never do it again, it was as if I came up from under the water and was drowning no longer. I came out of the darkness keeping me in fear. Now I live with joy in God’s light and am no longer wallowing in this wretched sin of crossdressing. Thank you Lord for your mercy for forgiving me for all of those failures and all of my other sins and for my lack of full and complete love for you and neighbor. Thank you Lord Jesus for taking the punishment for my sins and giving me your righteousness.
1 Peter 5:6-11
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Most of the time that I’ve been tempted to crossdress in my life, it has seemed just the result of my sinful nature or the strange peculiarities of my upbringing that somehow I developed this strange desire. But every once in a while, events come together in such a way that it seems I’m being compelled by a very strong force to crossdress. Once in a while it’s as if there is a voice in my head helping me to rationalize crossdressing so that I give in. At times I have had such strong unwanted dreams about crossdressing that it is as if there is an outside force trying to get me to fail. At these occasional times, I think indeed that Satan (or more likely his lesser minions), is trying to bring me down and get me to fail. I don’t know why Satan bothers to try when he knows that his eventual doom is sure. But for whatever reason, right now he delights in seeing God’s people sin and fail.
This passage gives us some strong warnings about Satan. He is not a joke. He’s ready to devour us. So we need to be alert. But there is great hope in this passage. We do have the power, given to us by the Holy Spirit, to resist Satan and his demons. In fact, they have no power over us unless we let them. We can stand firm in the faith and Satan cannot touch us. We can resist his wiles and lies.
The other thing I like about this passage is the reminder that all Christians suffer. I’ve talked to many Christian men who talk about suffering with these crossdressing temptations. They did not choose to have these desires and it is a great hardship and struggle to always bear such temptations and desires and not being able to give in. While I want to say that this is not really suffering compared to what so many Christians go through, it is still suffering of a kind and one that I am all too familiar with. But it comforts me to know that suffering is to be expected in the Christian life. But eventually after we have “suffered for a little while” God will restore us and make us strong, firm, and steadfast. Our suffering is temporary. Our sin is temporary. Let us keep up our fight against Satan and against our sin. We know that victory is assured. We know that our suffering will come to an end. God is in control and all powerful. He has promised good for us. So don’t be afraid, and continue to persevere!
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