That God Would Be Glorified in my Body

When I was 19 I hired a woman to permanently mark my wrists with two Hebrew words: peace and joy.

Now, I am nearly 23 and hired the same woman to mark the back of my arms with the words "seek the welfare of the city" and "pray to the Lord on its behalf," as well as flowers up my left arm. 

So, why? 

This question has many answers, but I will attempt to address this question in two ways. First, I want to address why personally and specifically I got these tattoos. Secondly, I want to address why I would ever mark my body permanently with anything.

Why peace? Why joy? And why Hebrew? My first tattoos are based in Isaiah 55. 

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven

and do not return there but water the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout,

giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

it shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

For you shall go out in joy

and be led forth in peace;

the mountains and the hills before you

shall break forth into singing,

and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands."

I got them as a constant reminder of what happens when the Lord speaks. When He moves. Not when I move, not when I self-start or do things in my own strength, but when He moves by power of His word. When He speaks, when He moves, His purposes and plans are always accomplished. And as a result, as one sent out by Him, I move forward in joy and He leads me in peace. So they remind me that I have peace and joy in Christ now, and also that He is bringing joy and peace in the future. 

They are a challenge to me: to live a life of joy in Christ and to rest in His peace, to look forward to His coming again and to trust in the Word of the Lord. 

So that's why I got two little words on my wrists when I was 19. 

Now I'm almost 23 and I got a much larger tattoo this last week, why? 

My newest tattoo is based on a passage from Jeremiah 29. Israel is in exile in Babylon. There are false prophets misleading the Israelites, but Jeremiah comes with a word from the Lord and tells them:

"Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 

Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 

Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 

But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare."

So, how does this word for the Israelites mean anything for me, a single 23-year old woman living thousands of years later? In this, I see a challenge that God has given me, to invest, to care, to minister. My life is dedicated to sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ so that people would repent of their sins, come to know Christ and live in newness of life. 

This tattoo is a reminder to invest where the Lord has put me, to put down roots, to really seek the betterment of the entire city no matter how long I am in a place. This tattoo is also a challenge for me as I go out, to not forget where I've been, to continue to pray for each city that I've lived in, the people that I know there, the work that the Lord is doing there. It's also a challenge for me to look ahead to the new places that God is calling me and to love them with the passion that I have in the former places. 

Each flower represents a different city that the Lord has had me, places where I've put down roots, had ministry and places where my heart still is. I have flowers for Savannah, Phoenix, Raleigh and eventually will have flowers for Lacoste and Manila as well. 

So, part two. Why would I ever mark my body in the first place?

Most simply: That God would be glorified in my body. 

These verses so struck me, they rang in my soul. They challenged me, resonated with me and I wanted them with me always. I wanted His Word to be inseparable from me. His Word is written in my heart, my mind and now my body. Before getting my tattoos, I spent time in the word, memorizing the scriptures and spent time in prayer and then I waited. I waited for a few years, and said, "Yes, this is something I still desire. This is something worth having until I die."

For me, the only thing I know of that is worth marking my body for is Christ and His Gospel. My desire is that my body, my daily activities, my speech, my actions, my life would glorify God and cause others to desire to know Him more. My tattoos give me an opportunity to tell people about what God has done in my life, how He has changed me. It allows me to point others to Christ and to recite Scripture to them, to show them the joy, passion and fervor that comes through knowing the God of the Universe!

There is a sobriety that comes in marking your body. To say, "This decision will be with me, and visible to the world until the day I die." I mean, my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit! That is not something to be taken lightly.

"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." -1 Corinthians 6:19-20

"with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me." -Philippians 1:20b-22

So, I got the tattoo with joy and excitement at beautiful things. The beauty of Scripture, of the Lord's creation and of a lifelong commitment to the Gospel of Jesus Christ that calls me to die to myself, to love and serve Him and to love others.

My body is not my own. It was bought at a price. It is His. To be used for His honor, His glory. May Christ be glorified in my body until the day I die and may I not forget it.