faroukfarouk
Fading curmudgeon
Hi there; good to see you on the forums; and it's wonderful that day by day we can feed on God's Word and know communion with the Saviour Who died for His people at the Cross and is now risen and intercedes for them constantly, Hebrews 7.25.I have been searching the internet about this very thing today! Unfortunately, I found no answers specifically to my issue. After a very long and messy marriage and devastating divorce, I stepped away from my faith in God (even though I KNEW He had held me through all of the traumas and provided for me when I found myself completely on my own with nothing.
Anyway, during that year, I searched for fulfillment in meditation and Eastern religious beliefs. I ended up getting a tattoo of a buddhist symbol (the incomplete circle) with a dragonfly (to symbolize renewal) on my forearm. I now feel it gives the wrong message and promotes something I don't truly believe in. I regret it and fear I will be judged by other Christians because of this. I know that God does not judge because of this and I have been forgiven for all my sins during that time. Still, it is a permanent mark that I ashamed to wear. Any input?
Many Christians have tattoos, including faith based ones. My wife and I talked to a young lady with the whole of John 3.16 inked on her wrist area; it was her favorite Bible verse and mine also, and I'm sure that other conversations have arisen also as a result of her willingness to have it done.
I think it's the design that you currently have that bothers you, right? When you have the time and funds to spare, you might consider having the design adapted to reflect your settled Christian convictions. It's amazing what a good tattoo artist can do; and for example, a Christian woman with the name of an ex-bf (e.g., Bill) tattooed might want to get the tattoo 'Bill' changed to (e.g.) 'Bible', or something like that.
There might also be the option of removing it altogether, although this might prove both expensive and painful, involving multiple sessions and the end result might not look good, either.
If you do succeed in having the current tattoo adapted and superimposed with a specifically Christian design, you will be numbered among very many Christians who have done the same. I saw this quote from someone someplace in the Bible Belt, FYI:
QueenCat said:Around here (Bible Belt), it is common, especially among evangelical Christians, for the girls under about 40 to have religious tattoos. More do than don't, especially when you get to the under 30 crowd. I hardly know any female at church that is under 30 that does not have a tattoo.
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