Love and Grace

Last December I decided to get some tattoos. I knew that there would be all sorts of different opinions about them, so I was prepared to engage that. One of the first things I heard and is something that usually is the first thing people say. It's that Christian aren't suppose to get tattoos. That it was a sin against God to do such a thing. You would think that after you read Leviticus 19:28 that it's pretty cut and clear right? But it does not say that tattoos are a sin! As a matter of fact nowhere in the Bible does it say that it is. I think that the text really needs to be read and studied carefully. This passage in Leviticus, including the surrounding text, is specifically dealing with the pagan religious rituals of the people living around the Israelites. I think this topic is something that you have to decide for yourself. If you read the text before verse 28, it talks about many other things not to do like wearing clothing woven of two kind of material(verse 19), and not cutting our hair at the sides of our heads or clip off the edges of your beards(verse 28) or not eating any meat with blood still in it(verse 26).Well, certainly many Christians today eat non-kosher meats and get haircuts without participating in the forbidden worship of pagans. Back then these customs were associated with pagan rites and rituals. Today they are not. Like I said you have to form your own opinion about it, as for me it's quite fine to get tattooed. Again, that is my own opinion. This post is for me to express why I got them in the first place. First to honor God. Defiantly not for my own attention, but His! I believe that God knew my intention in getting them and He honors that. On my right fore arm it says "love" in the exact same way that it is written in the Bible font and all! In my left it says "grace" the same way. On top of the words there are hands inside a circle with holes in the middle of the hands, both representing the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It's based on the scripture in Ephesians 2:4-7 it says..
4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. I was in a place where I didn't have Christ in my life and because of His love and grace I am able to experience a real awesome relationship with Him! I'm grateful every single day for that. Peace out!