4 Tattoos for Your Soul

You Are Mine

In Isaiah 43:1, God said to his people, “You are mine.” They belonged to him because he made them out of nothing, formed them with his hands, redeemed them from their slavery, and invited them to be his people. No matter where they were or what was happening to them, they were his precious possession. God is like a proud father, who announces to everyone during the middle of a show, “That one is mine!” He doesn’t make this happy claim when you’re free from the effects of sin or finally have your life together. He claims us just how we are. The truest thing about you is not your faults, but the One who has his grip on you, faults and all. “You are mine” is a tattoo for your soul. It will never fade away.

I Will Be With You

God said to his people in Isaiah 43:2, “I will be with you.” It’s astonishing that God did not say, “I’ll be here for you if you get out of your trial. Instead, God said that he would be with them in their trial. He would go with them through it. Here are ten truths about trials that are vital to understand. 1. You will go through trials. 2. God will be with you in your trials. 3. Trials will not overwhelm you. 4. Our faithlessness does not stop God’s faithfulness. 5. God will give you all that you need to handle your trial. 6. Don’t expect from others what only God can give. 7. God has something special just for you. 8. Prayer flows from fidelity. 9. Trials are not a destination but a passageway. 10. God’s fidelity to us is costly to him.

I Love You

Knowing everything about them, God said to his people, “I love you” (Isa. 43:4). I once saw a man at a coffee shop do something that I’ll never forget. He was with his 15 year old son getting hot chocolate. The boy had Down’s syndrome. The father reached out his hand and placed it on the back of his son’s head, gently sifting his son’s hair through his fingers. Looking at his son squarely, he said, “Hey, beautiful.” Startled, thinking he did something wrong, the boy said, “What?” His dad’s gaze didn’t break and he responded, “Hey beautiful, I love you.” This boy would probably never be great in the word’s eyes, but to his father, he was beautiful. We long to feel God reach out his hand and grab hold of our heads, look us square in the face and say, “Hey, beautiful, I love you.” God said to his people, “You are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you.”

I Created You for My Glory

In Isaiah 43:7, God said, “I created you for my glory.” Tattoos aren’t for rebels anymore, but the truly rebellious have soul tattoos. There is nothing more rebellious that you could do in this world than to live for the glory of God. Glory is like gravity. What draws you in? What do you orbit around? Whatever your life revolves around is the thing your life gives glory to. When God holds the most weight in our lives, then we’re most drawn to him and he is the most glorious to us. We refuse to give the things of this world center stage and allow God to have his rightful place. Purpose is never determined by the objects that are created but by the creator of the objects. God gives us a great purpose. Our purpose is to put him at the center. This can happen when life is going well or when it seems to be falling apart. The main thing is not the circumstances of your life, but what’s at the center of your life. What’s written on your soul?