VERBAL TATTOOS

I Was Just Thinking About – VERBAL TATTOO.

In the past few years, we have seen an increase of the number of people desiring to mark their skin with a Visual Tattoo (or several tattoos). While there is a possibility for them being surgically removed, it is not without pain and some scarring. My focus is upon the Verbal Tattoos that attempt to label a person or persons.

In a recent Blog, I made mention of Howard Hendricks and the major contribution he made in the lives of countless thousands of people and students. In the beginning of his life’s-journey, he was anything but a model student. He grew up in Philadelphia, PA. He wrote the following about his early life of being raised in a broken home: “My parents separated when I came along. I split the family. His father’s mother reared him, and he described himself as a ‘troublemaker’ during his elementary school years, probably just ‘acting out’ a lot of insecurities. ‘Most likely to end up in prison’ was the assessment of his fifth-grade teacher in Philadelphia. Once she even tied him to his seat with a rope and taped his mouth shut. Yet everything changed for that boy when he met his sixth-grade teacher. He introduced himself to Miss Noe, and she told him: ‘I’ve heard a lot about you. But I don’t believe a word of it.’ Those words would change his life. She made him realize for the first time that someone cared.” 

What is said about other people can marginalize them - scar them - for life. It can become a Verbal Tattoo that marks a person. There was once a young minister who did not have the “connections” for advancing in a denomination. When his name came up for consideration, one church leader indicated that in his opinion, this man was a “blunder-buss” (a clumsy, unsubtle person). For better or for worse, that opinion was passed along to others. We need to be very careful with the use of words that are used by us to define another person.

What should be the guideline that governs what we say about others. The first thought that should come to mind by the Biblical Christian is Philippians 2:3-4, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” Emphasis on the words: “value others” and “the interests of others.” Similarly, in Romans 12:3, we are reminded: “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.” We should always have in mind Romans 15:7, “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”

You may have been marginalized by the Verbal Tattoo of another person. Put that behind you and know that Jesus thought of you as a person of possibilities when he redeemed you. Follow Him wholeheartedly. It is His opinion of you that matters the most.

Prayerfully – consider these things with me!