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Dutch Category 1: Created in God’s Image and Known by God
These verses speak to the foundational truth that every person is intentionally made, known, and loved by God. This inherent dignity is not based on external appearances or societal norms, but on being a bearer of the divine image.
Genesis 1:27
“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
Reflection: This foundational verse declares that humanity, in its totality, bears the image of God. Our divine reflection is not limited to a rigid biological binary but is found in the beautiful and complex spectrum of human existence. To be created in God’s image is to have an inherent, unshakable dignity. For a transgender person, this means their true self, the person they know they are, is a reflection of the Divine Creator, who is infinitely creative and wondrous.
Psalm 139:13-14
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
Reflection: This is a powerful hymn to the intimate and personal nature of God’s creation. The psalmist celebrates the “inmost being”—the soul, the core identity—as God’s primary work. When a person’s inner self does not align with their physical form at birth, it is not a sign of a mistake, but a profound mystery of their unique creation. The journey to align one’s life with this “inmost being” can be understood as a sacred path toward becoming the “wonderfully made” person God has always known.
Jeremiah 1:5
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
Reflection: God’s knowledge of us precedes our physical existence. This speaks to a spiritual identity, a core self, that is known and loved by God outside of any physical or social context. For a transgender individual, this verse can bring immense comfort, suggesting that their gender identity is not a recent or confused feeling, but an ancient truth about their soul that God has known from the very beginning.
Isaiah 43:1
“But now, this is what the Lord says— he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.’”
Reflection: To be called by name is to be seen and affirmed in one’s unique identity. God does not call us by a generic label, but by the name that speaks to our essence. When a transgender person chooses a name that aligns with their true self, it can be a holy and life-giving act—a participation in God’s own act of naming and claiming us as beloved.
1 Samuel 16:7
“But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’”
Reflection: This verse is a cornerstone for understanding identity. God’s gaze penetrates beyond the superficial, beyond the external body and social presentation, to the heart—the seat of our true self. In a world that often judges and misunderstands based on appearance, there is profound reassurance in knowing that God sees and loves the person we are inside. This validates the deep, internal knowledge a transgender person has of their own identity.
Category 2: Radical Inclusion and Breaking Barriers
These passages highlight how Jesus and the early church consistently moved to welcome and affirm those who were marginalized, challenging social and religious boundaries that caused exclusion and pain.
Galatians 3:28
“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Reflection: This is a revolutionary declaration of spiritual equality. While our earthly identities and experiences differ, these social and biological categories do not determine our worth or our place in the family of God. In Christ, the hierarchies that we use to divide one another lose their power. For transgender people, who often exist outside of rigid “male and female” binaries, this verse proclaims a liberating truth: your primary identity is “in Christ,” a place of radical belonging where you are whole and complete.
Acts 8:36-38
“As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, ‘Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?’ … And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.”
Reflection: The Ethiopian eunuch was a person who existed outside the traditional gender and religious norms of their time. They were a foreigner and their physical body excluded them from full participation in Temple worship. Yet, Philip, guided by the Spirit, does not hesitate. He offers full and immediate inclusion. The eunuch’s question, “What can stand in the way?” is a cry for acceptance that the Church is called to answer as Philip did: with an open heart and the waters of welcome.
Isaiah 56:4-5
“For this is what the Lord says: ‘To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant—to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will endure forever.’”
Reflection: Here, God makes a direct and beautiful promise to those who do not fit into the conventional family structure or gender binary. Their faithfulness is what matters, and for it, they will receive a place of honor and a “name better than sons and daughters.” This is a powerful affirmation that God’s family is not built on procreation or conformity, but on love and covenant. It offers a vision of divine community where transgender people are not just included, but cherished.
Romans 15:7
“Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.”
Reflection: The command here is simple and profound. Our model for community is Christ’s own welcome—a welcome that was radical, unconditional, and offered to all, especially those rejected by society. To welcome a transgender person into a church or community is not simply an act of human kindness; it is a participation in the divine welcome of Christ himself. It is an act that brings glory to God because it reflects God’s own heart.
Matthew 25:40
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”
Reflection: Transgender people are, in many parts of the world, among “the least of these”—vulnerable to violence, discrimination, and rejection. Jesus makes it clear that our response to the marginalized is our response to him directly. To offer love, support, and protection to a transgender person is to minister to Christ himself. It elevates Christian ethics from a set of rules to a deeply relational and compassionate calling.
Luke 14:13-14
“But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed.”
Reflection: Jesus consistently centered those on the margins. His vision of God’s “banquet” is not for the powerful or the privileged, but for those who are typically excluded. This is a call for the Church to be a place of radical hospitality, actively seeking out and making space for those who have been pushed to the edges, including our transgender siblings.
Category 3: The Law of Love and Compassion
This group of verses elevates love as the ultimate ethical principle, suggesting that any rule or interpretation that causes harm or fails to show love is a misreading of God’s will.
Matthew 22:37-39
“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Reflection: Jesus himself provides the ultimate hermeneutic, the lens through which all other scripture should be read: love. Any theological position or action must be measured against this standard. Loving our transgender neighbor as we love ourselves means honoring their identity, grieving their pain, celebrating their joy, and advocating for their safety and flourishing as we would for our own.
John 13:34
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
Reflection: The defining characteristic of a follower of Christ is not doctrinal purity or rigid adherence to rules, but love. This isn’t just a suggestion; it’s a command. The love Jesus demonstrated was self-giving, empathetic, and boundary-breaking. This is the quality of love we are commanded to show to all, including transgender people, affirming their worth and humanity.
Romans 13:10
“Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”
Reflection: This provides a crucial ethical test for our actions and beliefs. If our theology or our “welcome” causes demonstrable harm—emotional distress, spiritual anguish, or social exclusion—to our transgender neighbors, then according to Paul, it is not love and it is not a fulfillment of the law. True Christian love seeks the well-being and wholeness of the other, always.
1 John 4:8
“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
Reflection: This verse makes a breathtaking claim about the very nature of God. God is not merely loving; God is love. Therefore, our capacity to know God is directly tied to our capacity to love. To withhold love from anyone, including a transgender person, is to obscure our own vision of God. To practice love, acceptance, and compassion is to draw closer to the divine essence itself.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
Reflection: This is a portrait of love in action. For a transgender person, this love looks like patience with their journey, kindness in the face of misunderstanding, and a refusal to dishonor them by using the wrong name or pronouns. It means protecting them from harm, trusting their testimony about their own life, hoping for their future, and persevering in love even when it is difficult.
James 2:8
“If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right.”
Reflection: James calls the law of love “the royal law,” placing it above all others. This is the standard of righteousness. In the context of the transgender experience, doing right is not about enforcing a particular social or biological norm, but about extending the same dignity, respect, and compassion to our transgender neighbors that we desire for ourselves.
Category 4: Transformation and New Creation
These verses offer a vision of transformation, hope, and newness. They can be read as spiritual parallels to the journey of transition, where one moves toward a more authentic and integrated state of being.
2 Corinthians 5:17
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
Reflection: This speaks to a profound spiritual reality that can mirror the lived experience of transition. For many transgender people, living with an identity misaligned with their body feels like being trapped in “the old.” The process of affirming their gender is a journey toward becoming a “new creation,” a person who is whole, integrated, and authentic. This an experience of resurrection and new life that is deeply holy.
Revelation 21:5
“He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’”
Reflection: This is the ultimate promise of God—not to restore things to a broken past, but to make everything new. This offers a hope that transcends our current struggles and categories. For a transgender person who may feel that their body or life is a site of conflict, this is a promise of ultimate renewal and wholeness, where all things, including our identities and bodies, will find their perfect, divinely-intended form.
Ezekiel 36:26
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
Reflection: This is a promise of profound inner transformation. It speaks to a God who cares about our inner alignment and well-being. The journey of a transgender person can be seen as a search for this very alignment—a search for a “heart of flesh” that is alive and true, in place of a “heart of stone” hardened by dysphoria and incongruence. God is a partner in this process of renewal.
2 Corinthians 4:16
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”
Reflection: This verse draws a clear distinction between the outer, physical self and the inner, spiritual self. It affirms that the most important work is the daily renewal of our inner being. This can resonate deeply with the transgender experience, where the outer form may feel incorrect or be in a process of change, while the inner self is on a journey of becoming more authentic and alive.
Philippians 3:21
“…who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”
Reflection: This verse offers a profound hope for the future. It acknowledges that our current bodies are “lowly”—imperfect, subject to pain, and sometimes sources of deep distress, as in the case of gender dysphoria. The ultimate hope is not that these bodies are bad, but that they will be transformed into something glorious and whole, perfectly aligned with our redeemed selves.
Romans 12:2
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Reflection: We are called not to conform to the world’s patterns—which include rigid and often harmful gender stereotypes—but to undergo a transformation through the “renewing of your mind.” For a transgender person, aligning their life with their inner truth is an act of non-conformity to the world’s expectations and a deep, personal “renewing of the mind.” This courageous journey can itself be a way of discerning God’s good, pleasing, and perfect will for one’s life.
Colossians 3:11
“Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.”
Reflection: Paul once again lists pairs of social opposites that create division and hierarchy and declares them irrelevant. Christ “is in all.” This is a breathtakingly inclusive statement. It means Christ’s presence dwells within the transgender person just as much as anyone else. Their identity does not diminish the divine indwelling; it is the sacred vessel for it.
