Tattoos and life

Everywhere you look now (or so it seems) you see people with tattoos.

It's hard to watch an NBA basketball game without seeing players with tattoos all over the bodies.

There is a psychology to all of that, I am sure.

Some people don't wear tattoos on the outside - they carry them around on the inside.

Dr. Norman Vincent Peale used to tell the story of walking through the twisted little streets of Kowloon in Hong Kong.  As he did, he came to a tattoo studio.  The window displayed samples of the tattoos available. 

You could have an anchor or a flag or mermaid or whatever tattooed in your arm or leg.  But what shocked him were three words that could be tattooed on your skin:  "Born to lose."

He entered the shop and pointing to those words, he asked the Chinese tattoo artist, "Does anyone really have that terrible phrase, "Bron to lose," tattooed on their body?"

The tattoo artist answered, "Yes".

"But," Dr. Peale said, "I just can't believe that anyone in their right mind would do that."

The Chinese man simply tapped his forehead and said in broken English, "Before tattoo on body, tattoo on mind."

Some people have tattooed on their soul:

Loser.

Adulterer.

Divorced.

Unemployed.

Sick.

Depressed.

Anxious.

No good.

Unforgiven.

Bitter.

Resentful.

Lousy husband, wife, employee, mom, dad.

God wants you to know today, that as a child of His, you are never what you think you are or what other people say you are.

You are a child of God today!

God loves you and nothing can take away from His love for you.

People around you will try to label you and stereotype you and keep you living in the past.

Let the Holy Spirit do some spiritual and emotional surgery to take that tattoo off!

A word of caution. 

To take off a physical tattoo (I am told) can be very, very painful.  It can leave a scar that takes a long time to heal.

For some people, the wounds are so deep, the tattoos so pronounced that only a miracle working of the Holy Spirit will take it away.

Here's what I want you to know:  God can do that miracle!

It all begins by beginning today - beginning to pray - beginning to ask God to heal that wound - beginning to receive what God has for you.  Beginning to look at yourself as God sees you and not as the people around you see you.

And know this:  that as long as you are "in God" - God loves you - and so therefore you can love "you" - so what does it matter what other people think of you?

Just a thought for a Wednesday.