For example, my young friend has some tattoos. She has one on her right arm and one on her left arm. As she was showing me the one her right arm she said, "I don't really like this one. If I could I'd get rid of it but, oh well."
Isn't that the way life goes sometimes? We make decisions and then regret them later. Have you ever made a decision like that? One you wished you could change? I know I have.
It's always good to have a clear mind when making important decisions. It's never a good idea to make life-changing decisions while we are mentally out of sorts. Yet, it seems as if that's exactly when we choose to make some of the biggest decisions of our lives. We end up with "tattoos" on our lives that we don't really want.
Our problem is that when we are in those moments we tend to be focused on one of two things - ourselves or what someone else thinks about . . . ourselves.
The cost of decisions begins to increase wit age, especially through the teenage years as more and more "options" become available. So how can we avoid those high-cost mistakes, those tattoos that will stay with us for the rest of our lives?
The first thing I would do is start living a lifestyle that doesn't feature any of the tough decisions. What do I mean? I don't allow myself to get into situations where I would make dumb decisions. For example, "Would you like a beer?" is always answered with "No, thanks." Why? Because, although drinking A beer might be alright. Drinking LOTS of beers leads to bad decisions. I'm just not going to go down that road. It leads to "waking up with tattoos." Know what I mean?
I don't smoke, I don't drink. I don't have sex outside of marriage. I don't steal. I don't lie. I don't even watch television because all those things lead to "tattoos" I would rather not have.
I have found that life gets a whole lot less complicated when I give all of my decisions to Jesus. If I run everything past Him and His Holy Spirit, I have found that life gets a whole lot simpler. Oh, I still have scars. I have been wounded emotionally and physically. But I don't have any tattoos.
The great thing about a life in Christ is that, even if we wake up in the morning and find ourselves with a new tattoo or two (that sounded weird) is that . . . now listen to this because it's important . . .unlike my young friends tattoo that she no longer wanted, Jesus can remove all of our unwanted tattoos from life. He can make them all fade away? Why? Why would He do that? Because He loves us and He has the power to "make all things new."
"5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” - Revelation 21:5
Do you have any unwanted tattoos? Let Jesus remove them today. He can make you brand new.
The following is a song, written from the perspective of a father, to his daughter . . . who became a tattoo in his life when the mother chose to abort her. Jesus can remove the pain from such tattoos but you have to want that. You have to trust Him. Please, do so today.
Lucy - Skillet
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