Former porn star Joshua Broome knows the secret to unlocking shame and embracing freedom.
“Shame is not God’s intention for your life,” Broome, who gave his life to Christ 11 years ago, told CBN News. “The solution to shame is connection, is confession.”
Before becoming a Christian, he explained that what kept him stuck in the pornography industry was the fact that he felt too ashamed about the sins he had committed.
While guilt tells a person, “I’ve done something wrong,” shame tells someone, “I am someone wrong.”
“If I believe that my only value is indicative of me selling myself for sex, well, then, of course I’m going to continue doing what I’ve done, because it’s just an overflow of who I am,” Broome explained.
One of the things that helped release Broome of his shame was confessing his sins not just to God but to other believers.
“The depth of your confession is going to equate to the level of your healing,” he shared. “So, say all of it. The way that you own your past is you have to own it, and the way that you own it is you say it out loud because we can only be as free as we’re willing to be honest.”
In fact, 1 John 1:8-9 reads: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
Related: Former Porn Star Finds God: Jesus Didn’t Give Up ‘On Such a Wretched Sinner’
Even though confession and taking responsibility is essential for healing, compassion is as well.
“[My wife] looked at me and said, ‘Hey, I don’t want to minimize your pain…but I do want to tell you that you’re not defined by the worst thing you’ve ever done, and you won’t be defined by the greatest thing you ever do, because you’re not the author of you — God is,’” Broome recalled her telling him. “At the cross, the worst of us meets the best of God, and He wins. That’s how you defeat shame.”
Broome’s wife said the same thing to him early on in their relationship when he admitted he was a former porn star.
“She looked at me and said, ‘You know, a person’s not defined by the worst thing they’ve ever done, and a person’s not defined by the greatest thing they’ll ever accomplish,’” he said in a testimony video with “I Am Second.” “She said to me, ‘I believe God defines who you are. Do you know who God is?’”
The next Sunday after their first date, Broome attended church with his now-wife. The sermon that day was about how we all sin and are not perfect, but because of what Jesus did on the cross, we no longer have to be ashamed of our past sin.
“It met me where I was in that moment,” he explained. “That day, the Holy Spirit just softened my heart, and I gave my life to Jesus.”
Broome’s testimony is a powerful reminder that nothing can separate us from freedom in Christ when we confess our sins to Him and acknowledge Him as Lord of our lives.
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