bible says OUR BODIES ARE A TEMPLE

OUR BODIES ARE A TEMPLE

When the Lord created man and woman and placed them in the garden along with His other creations.  He spoke these words in Genesis 1:31,   "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day." When the Lord created the human body, He pronounced that the way He created it was very good.  The Lord desires that our bodies be a reflection of His own beauty.  When people tattoo their bodies they are tampering with what the Lord said was very good the way He made it.   We should never mark our bodies as this is unnatural.  Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit and we are admonished not to defile them. Tattoos on one's body is like graffiti on a wall. Having tattoos on our bodies does not glorify God.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20: "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

What is it within man that makes us dissatisfied with the way the Lord made each of us?   Most people are not happy with the way they look so they seek ways that will cause them to feel better about themselves or cause others to accept them. This is not wrong when it comes to having good grooming habits, but we need to understand true beauty comes from within, not from what we wear or how we look. When the emphasis is put on the outward appearance we can be ensnared in vanity, rejection, fear, pride and even racial discrimination. One of the most wonderful things about receiving the Lord is that He wants to deliver us from the outward things that we think we need to feel good about ourselves.   When we are in sin we do not feel worthy or acceptable, but through Christ we are.   When we can fully walk in the knowledge that we are acceptable before God through Christ, we are then free to be the person God made us to be without having to create a different image.  Many people are consumed with trying to be different or become acceptable not only by getting a tattoo but by other things as well.

Some Christians argue that they have the name Jesus or some Biblical word or sign tattooed on their body so they can witness by the tattoo. However, God is more concerned how we are living our lives than by displaying a religious mark on our body. That is not the highest way He would have us witness. The Lord would rather us witness to others by the character of Christ being demonstrated in our lives than display Christian slogans that many times are not matched by the life of Christ. Certainly, the Lord can use a tattoo of a cross or other religious symbol when a Christian has one of these as God knows the heart of the one who truly wants to share Christ with others.  However, it is not necessary to use any worldly thing to attract sinners.  It is the Holy Spirit who draws people to Christ through any yielded vessel of the Lord.  When we pray and witness to others the Lord will cause them to listen.

Just because a person has had a tattoo, it will not prevent God from using people to witness nor keep them from being a minister of God.  God looks on the heart and can use different things to testify of Christ's love, even tattoos.  However, well- meaning people can be deceived in their methods of evangelism.