I've Been Redeemed By Grace So That I Can Fullfil My Purpose To Point Others To Him
Hey Everyone,
So, if you know me, personally, you know that I have a tattoo and recently added to it and if you don't know me, in person, it's a butterfly on my left arm with the word "Redeemed" next to it and then on my right wrist are the words, "by grace;" I LOVE IT!
Now, I know some people I know, and some people I don't, are greatly against tattoos and can't fathom why anyone would get them in the first place. I, obviously, don't think they are a bad thing and although I don't feel like I have to defend my choices to anyone, since it's my body and my life, I figured I'd share a little here why I got it.
A few people I know, have shared their opinions on the fact that they don't like it, others have said they absolutely love it, and others have teased me (in a loving way of course :P) that I only got it to be cool or to look "tough", which is absolutely absured...I mean, how could a butterfly/hearts/fancy lines make me look tough! The reasons I got it have nothing to do with anything, but myself and God and the fact that I want my life to be a testimony to the fact that He's changed me from the inside out!
Not everyone knows this about me, but in the past, I've had sucidal thoughts and been tempted to cut myself if I didn't think I'd get caught. I'm not sharing this to scare anyone or put down anyone who has done this, but it's a part of my story and partly why I got my tattoo so bear with me.
I'm a stong Christian, and I feel I have a close relationship with God, but that doesn't change the fact that life gets hard, and there have been many times where I just cry out to Him to "take me Home" and when He hasn't, I've wondered, to myself, why don't I just "help" Him, and do it myself....Saying this now, when I'm not in one of those dark places, I wonder why I'd ever think I need to "help" the Creator of the Universe, but that's besides the point.
When I thought about getting a tattoo years ago, I knew I wanted a butterfly and I knew I wanted it visible to me and to others, because I wanted it to be a reminder to myself that I've been made new in Christ and so that if anyone saw it, and asked me about it, I could share the Good News with them. After I got it, about a year ago, I decided that I wanted to add the words to it to make it a little more obvious why I got a butterfly, but mostly, to remind myself that when I feel like all hope is lost and that I'm useless to anyone, etc that I'm never too far gone because I've been saved and forgiven, by HIS grace! I don't have to be good enough because He's already won the battle for me!
To some, I know, this isn't a vaild reason to get inked, but hey, like I said, it's my body and my life and I'm vey happy with my decision. Do I need to have a tattoo to witness to others? NO! Do I need to have a tattoo to remind me of His grace and the to keep my from committing sucide? NO, of course NOT! BUT I can say that it has been a huge conversation starter and I'm grateful that He's used my tattoo/life as a witnessing tool to tell others about His goodness.
In the future, not anytime too soon (and maybe not ever, we'll see haha!), I'm thinking about getting the word "purpose" put somewhere, I have no idea where though, and a cross on my right pointer finger, if I ever decide to do it, for sure, I'll need to sit on it for a while, but again, those things would be reminders for me and hopefully gateways to conversations with people who don't know the Truth!
So whether you're inked or not I hope that this might encourage you somehow. I've been putting writing this off, because I didn't know exactly what I was going to say, or why He kept nudging me to write on my tattoo, but here it's done. :)
I hope you all have a great day and a beautiful weekend!
Until Next Time!
<3Abi
P.S. If you do have a tattoo, and would like to share, in the comments, what you have/why you got it, I'd love to hear it! :)
So, if you know me, personally, you know that I have a tattoo and recently added to it and if you don't know me, in person, it's a butterfly on my left arm with the word "Redeemed" next to it and then on my right wrist are the words, "by grace;" I LOVE IT!
Now, I know some people I know, and some people I don't, are greatly against tattoos and can't fathom why anyone would get them in the first place. I, obviously, don't think they are a bad thing and although I don't feel like I have to defend my choices to anyone, since it's my body and my life, I figured I'd share a little here why I got it.
A few people I know, have shared their opinions on the fact that they don't like it, others have said they absolutely love it, and others have teased me (in a loving way of course :P) that I only got it to be cool or to look "tough", which is absolutely absured...I mean, how could a butterfly/hearts/fancy lines make me look tough! The reasons I got it have nothing to do with anything, but myself and God and the fact that I want my life to be a testimony to the fact that He's changed me from the inside out!
Not everyone knows this about me, but in the past, I've had sucidal thoughts and been tempted to cut myself if I didn't think I'd get caught. I'm not sharing this to scare anyone or put down anyone who has done this, but it's a part of my story and partly why I got my tattoo so bear with me.
I'm a stong Christian, and I feel I have a close relationship with God, but that doesn't change the fact that life gets hard, and there have been many times where I just cry out to Him to "take me Home" and when He hasn't, I've wondered, to myself, why don't I just "help" Him, and do it myself....Saying this now, when I'm not in one of those dark places, I wonder why I'd ever think I need to "help" the Creator of the Universe, but that's besides the point.
When I thought about getting a tattoo years ago, I knew I wanted a butterfly and I knew I wanted it visible to me and to others, because I wanted it to be a reminder to myself that I've been made new in Christ and so that if anyone saw it, and asked me about it, I could share the Good News with them. After I got it, about a year ago, I decided that I wanted to add the words to it to make it a little more obvious why I got a butterfly, but mostly, to remind myself that when I feel like all hope is lost and that I'm useless to anyone, etc that I'm never too far gone because I've been saved and forgiven, by HIS grace! I don't have to be good enough because He's already won the battle for me!
To some, I know, this isn't a vaild reason to get inked, but hey, like I said, it's my body and my life and I'm vey happy with my decision. Do I need to have a tattoo to witness to others? NO! Do I need to have a tattoo to remind me of His grace and the to keep my from committing sucide? NO, of course NOT! BUT I can say that it has been a huge conversation starter and I'm grateful that He's used my tattoo/life as a witnessing tool to tell others about His goodness.
In the future, not anytime too soon (and maybe not ever, we'll see haha!), I'm thinking about getting the word "purpose" put somewhere, I have no idea where though, and a cross on my right pointer finger, if I ever decide to do it, for sure, I'll need to sit on it for a while, but again, those things would be reminders for me and hopefully gateways to conversations with people who don't know the Truth!
So whether you're inked or not I hope that this might encourage you somehow. I've been putting writing this off, because I didn't know exactly what I was going to say, or why He kept nudging me to write on my tattoo, but here it's done. :)
I hope you all have a great day and a beautiful weekend!
Until Next Time!
<3Abi
P.S. If you do have a tattoo, and would like to share, in the comments, what you have/why you got it, I'd love to hear it! :)
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