Hearing a story about someone redeeming themselves inspires us to do better for ourselves. Once we know that someone else is capable of redemption, we know that we are also qualified. If you love a good redemption story, then you’ll love the story of Joshua Broome. He used to be a porn star but turned his life around after meeting his wife. Now, Joshua is a pastor, father, and husband, telling his story of how he got out of the adult film industry. On his “Counterfeit Culture Podcast,” Broome opened up about his relationship with his wife, Hope, and discussed their love story.

He talked about how the two met and how Hope, a lifelong Christian, showed him grace and understanding as she learned details about his checkered past. Joshua said, “Hope met me where I was. She extended grace and God started radically moving in my life. It’s because I gave my life to Jesus so early on in our relationship, and we started growing together.” One of the most powerful parts of the discussion was when Joshua asked Hope how she could move forward so confidently after telling her he used to be a porn star.

Hope answered, “People ask me this so often, and for the longest time, I wasn’t sure what the answer was.” However, she said a college student shared something with her last year that helped her see that God’s goodness was the reason she could look beyond Joshua’s past. Hope continued, “The student was like, ‘Well, obviously it was the Holy Spirit,’” noting that this simple recognition sparked an epiphany. “And I was like, ‘You are so right.’”

Hope admitted her calm reaction to something so shocking was a bit out of character, but it helped her see an essential reality about God’s love and forgiveness. Hope’s response was, “If God can forgive him, why can’t I?” Hope said it wasn’t hard to fall in love with Joshua. She didn’t know him during his time as a porn star. Most of the build-up at the beginning of their relationship was based on normal couples’ everyday issues. However, one of the more challenging parts of their journey was dealing with the reality that there are hundreds of videos Joshua appeared in still available on the Internet, and he had no control over it.

Online bullies have intentionally sent these videos to Hope and tried to harass her with them. However, she learned how to navigate that uncomfortable reality. Now, Hope just blocks, deletes, and ignores the trolls. As for Joshua, a Christian pastor who struggles with this content’s ongoing existence online, he said he prays it is one day gone. If that doesn’t happen, though, Joshua says he’s just going to have to deal with it. Either way, though, he handles it with grace and reliance on the Lord.

It can be easy to judge someone with an unconventional past like Joshua’s. However, Matthew 7:1 tells us, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” Instead of focusing on Joshua’s history, we should focus on his future. As long as he keeps God first in his life, Joshua will go far and continue to be successful.