Chloe Cole was twelve years old when she first expressed signs of gender dysphoria. She was soon placed on puberty blockers and testosterone. At age fifteen, she had a double mastectomy. Only a year later, Chloe regretted this irreversible procedure and began to detransition. Although her thoughts about gender dysphoria have changed, her body has not. Chloe now lives with painful side effects from so-called “gender-affirming care.”

Gender dysphoria has recently become a prevalent and controversial issue in culture. Children struggling with gender dysphoria are often told to medically transition to the opposite gender in order to resolve their distress and protect their mental health. This raises an important question for Christians: “How does Jesus want us to respond to gender dysphoria?”

In Matthew 22:37-39, Jesus says the greatest commandment is to love God. The second commandment is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” These verses serve as a guidepost for navigating complex issues in culture. A Christian response should first honor the Lord, and second, promote greater human flourishing in society.

The Bible teaches in Genesis 1:27 that God created male and female in His own image. A few verses later, Genesis 1:31 says God “saw all that He had made, and it was very good.” These verses affirm that the human body is much more than mere matter.

Each person is intentionally designed by a sovereign and perfect Creator for a great purpose. Therefore, no one is born as the wrong sex or has a faulty design.

Christian theology values the body much more than secularism, which ultimately reduces each person to just matter. According to the secular view, the body is not intrinsically good nor reflective of a perfect Being. This perspective allows children to hate the body they were born in. While secularism sees the physical body as flawed, it views the mind, such as a person’s thoughts and emotions, as infallible.