I was reading and studying about what defiles a man....the temple of the Holy Spirit....it isn't what goes in a man's mouth that defiles him, (nor on his skin which is not even mentioned) but what comes out of his mouth for it reveals his heart.
Poll: Does the mainstreaming of tattoos open up increasing opportunities for faith ink witness?
- Thread starter farouk
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@Heart2Soul Indeed, and the Lord Jesus says as much to the Pharisees in Matthew 15.11.
And obviously with the self-evident mainstreaming of tattoos there are going to be Godly men and women who have matter-of-factly used their local parlors for a bit of inking, often faith based. (And so, bearing in mind Matthew 15.11 one must take care also not to approach the subject in the spirit of latter-day Pharisees.)
Thanks to all who voted so far in the poll!
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NB: If you have not yet voted in the poll. please vote now!
@Rita So before you 'opened up' to it, so to speak, did theirs at first take a bit of getting used to?
@Heart2Soul Quite apart from the faith based design potential among Christians, with the more general mainstreaming also of tattooing were you at all surprised when your daughters decided to have it done?
yes...but they were grown and moved away from home....so what can I say...
well I have to take a break...
God Bless.
@Heart2Soul Ttyl....
(So though they did it that way, did the time come sooner or later when you admitted to them that it looked quite nice?)
I never had any negatives about them Farouk- they never wanted them until they were over 18 years old, they didn’t have to ask my permission, they paid for them themselves. My oldest has always had tattoos that meant something, although he did make the mistake of getting a girls name tattooed on his leg ( big mistake, and that later got transformed into a much larger and more creative design ) They are really artistic and designed by him.
My middle son only has one tattoo ......he is not sure whether or not he will get anymore.
Dan would like one, but doesn’t go out because of his agrophobia - he possibly would have been the one I would have had issues with because he would have wanted something like ‘ anarchy ‘ tattooed on his forehead !!!!! ( thankfully he never had much money and outgrew that stage !!! )
My daughter has a small tattoo on her wrist, very personal as it reminds her of her sister in law who died suddenly a few years back- she hates needles,so I doubt she will get anymore done.
Rita
@Rita Oh thanks, okay; so you've always been positive about it; but it's just that it took a while to become personally positive and convinced for it...
PS: @Rita Maybe you gently encourage him to have the confidence to get out and about? - if not actively persuading him to go to the parlor for the ink he desires.
@Rita: Oh I'm sure that it's a very complex situation, with psychological 'wheels within wheels', from various angles. I'm sure he would in any case get the impression of a consistent, prayerful steadiness from you, which in time could coax his confidence. (The ink would I'm sure be a low priority, even though you say he wants to do too what the rest of you guys already did.)
"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" I Cor 16:9
Do people not understand that to mean also they are still only stewards that they, the whole kit and caboodle, belong to Him? Are we allowed to fornicate? That is a fleshly thing of this body of flesh. Does it defile us? Is not the proper care and use of our bodies of flesh included in our stewardship?
Some say that getting a tattoo is not defiling the body, but did they hear that from God or are they legalizing in order to do what they want or get around any conviction they might otherwise have received? If they did not hear from God, why did they not check in with Him before doing it? Are they not His sheep? Can they not hear His voice?
In the OT ignorance of the law given by God, by Moses was an excuse until a person became aware that he had broken the law. Then he was required to make atonement and restitution.
When we repent today [NT] we don't specifically repent of sins of which we are unaware but when we become aware of them, should we not want to repent also of those?
A major difference between then [OT] and now [NT] is that now God writes His Word on our hearts. God starts writing when we first repent and then as we read, study, hear and pray then from the scriptures or other sources that He has, the Holy Spirit will quicken them [bring to Life or write them in our hearts] to us. This is growth.
In the OT people may have known [or not] that it was all written down on paper [by Moses and others], but most did not have a copy and/or could not read anyway. They were dependent upon the priests and prophets of God to advise them what was written and what it meant. Now we are supposed to be in touch with God ourselves. The Interpreter should be the Holy Spirit in us. He will continually add more of His Word to what is written in our hearts... if we continue to pursue. When a thing is written in us, we are no longer ignorant of that thing. This is growing. When we have receive the knowledge within [no more ignorance] of a thing, then we no longer may do whatever we think is right in that thing. We need to obey God. This is moving from faith to knowledge... In the end, that is, when it is finished we will have knowledge... This is growth.
"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." Heb 12:2
Abraham. Jacob and David, may have been always ignorant of the error we see in polygamy never having come to the knowledge of the error. Should we remain ignorant of the need to know God's will before defiling these vessels of which we are stewards?
Yes, we can and do sometimes move ahead on our own and God will overlook our ignorance, but how long will we remain ignorant about our duty as stewards over that which is His?
"And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:" Acts 17:30
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@Josho Your sister would probably even have been surprised, if you had in fact been surprised; it's so mainstreamed now.
@Rita Oh, so there was never any 'big change of mind' with you about tattoos; after praying, it simply felt really good to go ahead and get inked up with what you wanted, then?