LIFE & CULTURE

Seeds of Change

Jan 10, 2017

Glory awaits for those who seek for it. For those whose heart are in condition for change. Who receive the truth and allow the truth to penetrate in their lives. As I sit here and stare into space, my notebook candidly lays on my lap. The naked pages untouched. I think about all the things I want to do, should do and have to do. The dream of illuminating my goals cloud my head, directly blinding me from all the things I'm going through. The turbulence of my faith shakes me. It plasters itself between the neurons firing in my brain and in hindsight the image of the invisible God becomes what I fear to know.

In the glory of His presence. I question my very existence and the change I want to see in myself. I barely budge, as I lay in awe of His splendour. I'm shaken of what it exposes of me. How frail I am as a being. It saddens me to know that the change I want to be has raptured me to realize that I'm nothing short of human. Deception hugs me tightly and the journey awakens my soul. In a split second I see the image of tiny seeds gathered, being planted.

A mirrored vision, of a farmer who, joyfully, gathers his seeds becomes what is known; he loosely carries the seeds and is carelessly swayed as the seeds fall along the path he walks on. The intense hunger of the birds unashamedly gathers the seeds of her frail faith and eats it up. The farmer continues to plant and her soul takes a liking to the soil, as it softens her heart, she becomes naive to the whispers of the enemy. Drenched in lies, the seeds of her heart viciously hits the shallow concrete of reality. It stunts her growth. The sun biologically rises but the lack of her root results in her slowly falling away and being destroyed.

The calamity of life gets the best of her, deceitful tongues manipulate her. The lies planted in her heart are hypocritical examples of love and worldly affection. Weakened to the echoes of the estranged, the voice of the GREAT one is faintly tuned out. Crippled by the judgement of others and the persecution of pain, she lays broken and unyoked. As the soil of her heart rejects the truth, it weeds to vain pursuits. Giving up, she blindly patches up her open wounds of vulnerability to the pleasures of the world.

As the farmer continued to plant, some of her seeds fall on good ground and heart become deeply rooted in the soil. She bears the fruit of life and the words received penetrate deeply within her. Rooted, her foundation unshaken, she continued to bear good fruit. In her understanding, the gardner prunes her and cuts off any branch that does not produce fruit. She becomes more fruitful as she relies on the vine, the tender whispers of His word remind her, "Remain in me and I will remain in you "| John 15:4|. Good soil, produces many crops, however "no branch can bear fruit by itself, it must be deeply rooted in the vine " | John 15:4|. Her heart openly receives the truth, as she continues to use the words to bear fruit. In doing so, she grows and change becomes necessary.

In hindsight, I envied the seed that fought through it. She set all her goals to push through, not to give up. She allowed the word of God to be planted in her heart. She lured her mind to cut off the lies, the burdens and to destroy the pleasures, her flesh craved intensely for. I watched her go through the nights where tears rushed vigorously down her face and onto her pillow, but on those nights she silently whispered a prayer to the Lord of lords to help her get it right. She recited and memorized the eloquence of scripture "a righteous man falls seven times but I will rise again " | Proverbs 24: 16|. The power of the saviour redemption for her life reminded her not to give up. Change was necessary, growth was important, however, if she lost the sense of her reality she would remain the same person--she refused to become. From time to time sin knocked on her door but daily grace whispered to her heart, I love you and forgive you, come back to me and be the change you earnestly long for.

The new year puts us in great spirits of setting fresh new goals. However, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is what will stimulate real change in our lives. I used the Parable of the Sower | Matthew 13:19-24|

and personified the seed(s), to give us a sense of the truth in which occurs when we fall and become slaves to the lies and the deceptions of the world. True change occurs when our hearts receive the word of God, and in spite of what comes our way, we allow the word to be the foundation in which we live. Life gets hard, things don't always go as planned. We set goals and sometimes, unfortunately, things occur and we are unable to complete them. I want this post to encourage you to set goals and make new year resolutions, but also to remind you that if things don't work out as you planned; you will diligently be the seed that fell on good soil, who received the word of God and pushed through regardless of what is going on. I prompt you to look to Christ, for in him the change we want to be are the seeds of his word that we plant in our hearts.

Reminder: For his Glory, but for your Good!

for the sake of love,

LIFE & CULTURE

To Value & Protect

Apr 25, 2016

I have been trying to write about this subject matter for what seems like a hundred years. I write and re-write because on one end, I have to maintain the facts that surround this subject, while at the same time making sure my emotions don’t overwhelm and take away from what I am trying to say. Sexual violence stories have taken quite a prominent role in our news stories, from Bill Cosby to Jian Ghomeshi. Women have been bravely coming forward to expose the violence done to them by these seemingly powerful figures, who generally had the respect and support of the public. What these stories have done has not only revealed how despicable and vile these men’s actions were, but they have also revealed how deeply imbedded patriarchy and misogyny is within ourselves.

I say it is within ourselves because we are society. Our actions, words, beliefs, values have created the miasma that we live in. We perpetuate patriarchy in how we talk about women, about men, about our relationships with each other, with our environment. It’s done subtly and expertly through movies, music, tv shows, art, fashion etc.

Sexual violence has no basis in any expression of love. When someone commits a sexual assault, they are not loving, caring, valuing or protecting the person they are assaulting. Instead, this person (or people) are using force to humiliate and dominate, control and coerce another human being. Forcing submission.

Sexual assault isn’t contained in our general understanding of extreme violence. Sexual assault can be forced oral contact (kissing), groping, fondling, oral-genital contact, vaginal penetration and anal penetration.** When you impose your will upon another human being and you act upon them without their consent, you are committing an act of violence. When you demean, and devalue, and essentially kill someone’s spirit, you are committing an act of violence.

And what do we say when a man forces himself on a woman, drugs her, fondles her, coerces her into sexual activity? Do we rise up in anger over his actions? No. We look at the survivor of this man’s actions and we wonder what she could have done to deserve the violence perpetrated against her. There has to be a reason for this perfectly rational man to humiliate, dominate, abuse, and exert his control on her body. Perhaps her dress was too short? She was probably too flirty! She was definitely asking for it, having her cleavage and ass out like that. It started off consensual and now she is crying “sexual assault?” Oh, she’s just embarrassed to be labeled a whore! These and many other phrases are used to justify acts of sexual violence! No one deserves to be violated. NO ONE DESERVES TO BE VIOLATED.

But patriarchy says it’s ok. Patriarchy forces a silver lining and says, “If how you behave, dress, and just generally if a man wants you, he has the authority to exert force on you, uninvited or not.” Patriarchy says that you can’t possibly sexually assault your spouse, because your spouse belongs to you. They are your property to do as you please.” Misogyny says there are times and places and moments where a woman DESERVES the violence she receives from a man. Patriarchy and misogyny do not require consent. They don’t respect boundaries. They say that you cannot withdraw consent. That you cannot stop what you have started. That you are responsible for the sexual violence perpetrated on you.

And we internalize this. We end up saying “Well, sometimes girls are too flirty, or are dressed provocatively, so of course it’s going to turn a guy on and make him want to do something…” Similar statements like these are protecting and validating acts of sexual violence. Men become animals that act out based on stimulus. They have no control. How then do we expect to have healthy, respectful relationships with rabid, uncontrollable animals? How can you not fear such an animal?

This place where we validate acts of sexual violence rather than deploring it is killing all of us. It’s hurting the way we relate to each other. It’s hurting the way we support each other.

God calls us to be holy as he is holy (1Peter1:16). There is no room for sexual violence (or any kind of violence) in Christ. Not when you are single. Not when you have a significant other. Not when you have a spouse. Using your power to abuse, humiliate, dominate, violate, exploit or coerce another human being is not Christ-like. God tells us to build each other up (1 Thessalonians 5:11); to love one another (John 13:34). In Christ, we are to value and protect and protect each other. Holiness is not just for women to clothe themselves in. Men are to be Holy as well. Because when you start to value human life/ human bodies, you will find it abhorrent to coerce, violate, humiliate or abuse another human being.

Everyone has a right to be treated with respect and dignity. When you use your power to dominate and humiliate, you have stripped away that person’s Human Right. Furthermore, we must be vigilant in the music, films, advertising, fashions that we consume that validate misogyny and patriarchy. We can’t continue to prop up our friends, family, favourite artists, musicians, fashion labels, producers, directors, teachers, professors, etc when they perpetuate the very thing that is corroding our society. We cannot continue to complain about patriarchy and misogyny when we find it entertaining and harmless, depending on the context that suits us. Hold all these people accountable. And most of all, let's hold ourselves accountable.

Sexual violence hurts all of us.

We need to STOP protecting people who commit sexual assault/sexual violence.

The perpetrator is the one who is at fault.

Not the survivor.

For The Sake of His Love,

Chenai.

Bellow is the link to the sexual assault centre:
**https://www.sace.ab.ca/index.php/learn/online-lessons/sexual-assault

LIFE & CULTURE

Why I started Youtube ?

Apr 2, 2016

So for all my readers who don't know, I started a YouTube Channel. Now, I must admit the decision to do YouTube was out of the blue. I didn't expect to add YouTube as another thing on top of my schedule as a new years resolution. It was the farthest from my mind to be honest. Anyways, about 5 years ago I contemplated doing YouTube and never followed through with it. Eventually, the desire just slowly faded and was never taken seriously. Friends would always suggest I should do it, but the will to put myself out there for the world to see was something that frightened me.

I'm very big on my dreams. Other than his word I believe that's how God communicates with me. So early on this year I started having vivid dreams that I was doing YouTube. At first I just thought: man my mind is playing games with me or something. So I brushed it off like it was nothing. Not long after that dream I had a friend of mine randomly messaged me and suggested that I should consider starting at channel. At this point it was all noise to me. I had no desire to sit in front of a camera and record anything. With all the things going on in my life considering YouTube would be adding more on my plate then I could already handle.

I continued to ignore all the possible signs that maybe God was telling me something. A few weeks after my friend messaged me I was having a conversation with my sister and the topic of YouTube came up AGAIN!!!! Then again I had a meeting with this girl who I was meeting for the first time, she mentioned to me that she had read my blog and she thought it would be a good idea to start YouTube. At this point I"M LIKE HOLD UP JESUS LIKE WHY CAN'T I LIVE ?. It was clear that Jesus was trying to get my attention, so I took it into prayer. I asked God that if he really wanted me to do this thing he would show me and the type of content he wanted me to do it on.

Although I was reluctant about the whole thing the idea of skin care and talking about my struggles with beauty kept coming back to me. But I ignored it and wanted to hear from God himself. Unfortunately after praying about it continuously I got nothing. I think at this point the Lord was over me. He like Nana are you deaf or dumb ? lol I'm playing; but you get the point don't you? After about a month of not hearing from God I just ignored the thought of starting a channel.

Until one morning my friend Avrielle called me and told me that she had a dream that I wanted to record a video of me doing lipsticks swatches on her. Coincidentally, that same night I had a dream that I was watching myself on YouTube talking about beauty related things.

It was obvious what God was telling me at this moment. So I obeyed and just started it. While setting up my account God confirmed it to me again: the description of what my YouTube was about was already filled in saying " Beauty and "Skin Care". I totally forgot that when I had intended to start my YouTube Channel 5 years ago I wrote that in the description box.

To be honest I'm really not sure why God wants me to put myself out there. I'm reluctant about what such a platform does to people and that makes me so fearful of laying out all my flaws out for the world to see. This was no way a choice I made on my own and although I don't know what will come out of this, I came across this scripture that gave me so much peace about what I have chosen to do.

"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. | Matt 5:13|

I am the salt of this world. The salt that refuses to lose it's taste!

Here is a link to my channel : HERE
Don't forget to like and Subscribe!

for the sake of his love,

NanaOhh.

LIFE & CULTURE

Hard Truth " Unashamed" : Collaboration with Anita Asante

Mar 13, 2016

I was recently asked by my girl Anita to write a review on her previous post Unashamed. In the post she highlights so many issues that we struggle with as black women. Anita keeps it real and uses her own experiences to outline how society has manipulated our blackness through stereotypes, in doing so sometimes are worth is put into question.

For more of Anita please check out her blog www.thehardtruthsite.wordpress.com

When I was asked to share my thoughts on Anita’s post I was a bit anxious. I wasn’t sure what I was going to write. Not because I was afraid about stepping out and talking about my blackness but afraid that I would be misunderstood. I was unsure if I could express myself and still extend grace on the issue at hand.

I came across this quote the other day:

“Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that, unless we love the truth, we cannot know it.”- ― Blaise Pascal

I learned a very long time ago that truth is a noun that lies in a definition of the unknown. Everyone’s definition of truth is different. Misunderstanding a person’s truth is a product of ignorance. A black person’s ability to express their frustration for justice in movements such as #blacklivesmatter has resulted in the ignorance of greater masses refuting the cause to say that #alllivesmatter. They fail to recognize that what is on the surface of what they see is something that has been deeply rooted within us. I don’t know any white person that has “contemplated changing their skin color to feel accepted by the society around them. But I know many as myself who contemplated manipulating their blackness– the beautiful handiwork of God to fit the image that has been socially profiled as correct.

This quote resonates profoundly with me. It is clear that those who do not love truth have opened themselves up to deception. The reality of being black is hidden to those who haven’t lived it or walked in the shoes of a black woman. The “Unashamed” post highlighted so many struggles and significant matters in our community today. The fact that different shades of our black skin tone is rated on some type of scale to prove self worth or value is disheartening.

Blackness has been defined as ugly to the masses, from saying that our nose is too big to being compared to gorillas—whiteness has established this falsehood, and blackness accepted it. It is problematic because along the way many of us have forgotten to love ourselves by truly embracing our individuality and our uniqueness of being “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalms 139:14. We have been asked repetitive questions on our hair, our culture and even language. But I believe that many have chosen to not learn about who we are because they don’t care and is simply not important to them.

feature LIFE & CULTURE

Birthday Glory| 24 Years Deep!

Mar 10, 2016

As my birthday slowly approached my heart was filled with so much excitement. I could not help but think that I've come such a long way. No one ever knows where the journey of life will take them. We just hope that as we unravel the layers of our life story that we are able to understand the hidden mysteries along the way. Like everyone else I've had some bad days, some happy days, some beautiful days and ugly days. I failed at more things than I've been successful at and although there are times I feel like I should be in my career by now, I'm at peace with where God wants me to be. Jeeez I can't believe I typed that out! I never even thought I would make it to this part in my life... EVER! But I'm here, alive. I've grown so much; I can actually look at myself in the mirror and see a beautiful black woman; one with dreams, goals and a crazy drive to inspire others. If I could go back four years, I would tell my 20 year old self that everything is going to be okay and to wait on God’s timing. My young saved soul had no clue what this walk would be about. I mean, 19 was the turning point but 20, 21 and 23 was the battle ground. I went to war with God, stopped going to my church, cried my eyes out, beat myself up over my sins and lost friends. But what did this all teach me? That you keep moving, you don't let the setbacks limit your growth. So here are some things I've learned and I’m thankful for:

1. My relationship with Christ: Seriously, where would I be without my father in heaven. He sustains me time and time again. Ya’ll don't understand how many times I ran from him, disappointed him, and even almost denounced my faith ( yaaaaa I'm dramatic LOL). But his love knocks me off my feet LITERALLY. I'm so thankful that at 24 I can say I know Christ for myself. He made me his own despite my crazy ways and disobedience; he doesn't give up on me. True definition of ride or die!! Thank you Father; no words can describe the joy I have in you and the love I have for you Papa.
I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. | Psalms 34:1|

2. MY FAMILY: My life line. My parents have had my back in everything, especially financially. From when I went away to school. I did not spend a dime on rent. And when I came back home and explained all my plans (something which was so hard for me to tell them), they loved me with open arms. Every birthday my mother prays with us. It's like this tradition she has developed for me and my siblings. Her prayer for my birthday honestly left me speechless. I know that her committing my life in God’s hands and asking him to do all the things she desires for me will come to pass. My sister and my brother you guys are my heart. I love my blood!!!

3. My boyfriend: I don't talk much about my relationship on my blog. But man, ya’ll don't understand how good this man is. Seriously heaven sent. I used to cry for boys to just look at me and love me. I used to be caught up in the messiest relationships. But what I prayed for, God give me more than I expected in a man. I don't doubt that Nate will ever stop his commitment to me because his love for God shows me that I'm secure in his love.

4. MY FRIENDS: WHEN I SAY I HAVE AMAZING FRIENDS NO ONE UNDERSTANDS!!! Man, God is so good. I have the most loyal friends a girl could ask for. I don't question one bit their actions towards me. They have shown unconditional love in every season that I've been through. Legit, from my booty popping days at the club (Haha) to changing over night and becoming a serious Christian. And currently walking with me in my growth. They stuck around to wipe my tears, laugh with me, and rock with me. My heart is overwhelmed with love for every single one of you.

5. My Best friend MARILYNNNNN!!!!!!!: How can someone teach you how to pray. Listen to me ball my eyes out and teach me to be a better communicator??? How, tell me how, sway, tell me how ? THIS GIRL MAN I love you.

6. MY BLOG: WOOOOT WOOOT TURN UP, This blog has taught me so many things about myself. It has helped me become a better writer. It has taught me to be patient, consistent and focused. I remember just crying to God about why he wanted me start writing. I was mad and sad because the task at hand seemed so much bigger than me. But I'm now seeing the fruit of obedience slowly come into full effect. Thank you guys for the 10k plus views. I am honestly so, so thankful.

LIFE & CULTURE

The Perfect Bedroom on a Budget

Feb 20, 2016

I recently uploaded a pic of my bedroom on Snapchat and on Facebook. I got so many questions on where I got some of the things in my room. So I’ve decided to write a blog post that goes into a little more detail about all the things I used to get the " Perfect Bedroom". Some of the things I bought with my own money and are pretty affordable and other things I received as gifts.

After moving back home from university, I wanted a place I could just have where I would be able to journal, pray and blog-- I wanted to feel comfortable. My parents had just moved into a new house so you -can imagine that my room was no way decked out. In fact, the only furniture I had was a really an old dresser and a chipped mirror my mother decided I should use as my vanity.

The process of getting my room to look the way it is has been a slow but rewarding one. Note that I didn't buy everything right away. I was inspired by a lot Pinterest posts and other Youtubers who had and did room/home tours. So, yea, I'm no interior designer lol. For anyone looking to renovate their room to fit their own comfort, rest assured that this is an easy task. Just don't stress yourself over it if you don't have all the things you want. Be patient and let your vision come together.

Anyways here are the pics below. I'll give you the link to where I bought everything.

LIFE & CULTURE

The Right To Choose

Feb 14, 2016

I know fear is from the devil. I know that worry is a spirit, so is anxiety. I don’t know how to feel right now. I’m not fearful or anxious or any of those emotions. I’m in-between contemplation and frustration.

There’s this idea that if a woman does certain things then she can “cheat-proof” her house; that her man will not stray only if she adheres to these things. And it frustrates me to read articles of men who cheat on their women, and even before I delve into the article to get the sordid details, my mind is already racing, speculating, and I end up bristling with annoyance and anger because almost immediately, the ideas about how to cheat-proof a relationship pop into my mind. It’s frustrating because most of these articles focus on what a woman can and should do in order to make sure that a man thinks twice (or doesn’t even entertain the thought) of straying: a woman has to be many things, but not too much that she leaves a man feeling inadequate.

It’s a huge lie to say there is something that a person can do to keep another from cheating. The truth of the matter is everyone makes choices—good or bad. A good choice can maintain the strong foundation of a marriage and won’t be devastated that a kitchen cabinet is broken and needs fixing; a bad choice looks at that broken cabinet and chooses to bulldoze the entire house. And the choice that one makes lies with that individual solely. Everyone experiences environmental stresses. Maybe your boss is horrible. But you choose to stay employed, and not talk to human resources because you don’t want to either be unemployed or cause tension at work. You still choose. The power of choice is not taken away from you, even in those moments that you feel that, “I have no choice”; you always have a choice. It may not be favorable to your current circumstances and you may perceive that you will suffer more if you made a certain choice rather than maintaining the circumstance that you are in, but at the end of the day, the choice rests in your hands. It never goes away. It’s an inherent right that is possessed by everyone on this Earth.

It’s ludicrous to me to ever think that a man would think I can keep him from making a choice; that if I cook a certain way, or look a certain way, and be top of my career and be independent enough, and godly enough that I will keep him from straying. Personally, I do not want such a man. I don’t want childish reasoning. I don’t want someone who doesn’t critically think about the messages that exist in this world, and the messages that inundate him and seek to “supplement” his understanding of masculinity. I don’t want a man who thinks one-dimensionally, and does not have courage to express himself freely. Obviously courage is a trait that is challenging in some situations; but I want a human being who knows his environment; he knows himself and his responsibilities and will not make excuses for himself or his behavior. I want a man who is courageous and bold: a man who can stand up for himself; for his beliefs; a man willing to understand others and to show love, to show a love that doesn’t compromise, but a love that is based on truth and mercy. But I digress.

#Christian #God #lifestyle LIFE & CULTURE ontheblog

JUST BELIEVE: Part 1

Jan 29, 2016

I am trying to find my footing where believing in God’s promises is concerned. Nana shared a video with me of a man whom God showed his daughter when he was 15 years old. After getting married and trying to conceive (and failing) the couple began to wonder and question the promise God gave to them. Long story short, it turns out the daughter that God showed them was a daughter they adopted.

It was a beautiful story, it made me tear up; it was admirable how they hung on to God’s promise even in the midst of all that disappointment. After I watched the video, I thought to myself: what a beautiful, but depressing story. God gave this guy a promise and the guy and his wife interpreted the promise one way but God fulfilled it in a different way. Dare I say, he fulfilled it in a way that was (in my opinion) a bit unsatisfactory. God did fulfill his promise: that he’d have a daughter named Chloe, with olive skin, but that daughter was not the fruit of his own body. Does the child make it less theirs because it was through another woman? Nope. Perhaps that is something to explore in a different post. But this story made me realize something. I realize that sometimes God’s promises are almost allegorical. They go beyond the obvious words that he gives you. In the case of the video, this man was given a vision of his daughter, and the name of the child; but it turns out this child was one they would adopt. Obviously there is a tinge of disappointment there. I assume God didn’t tell him, “the fruit of your womb will produce this beautiful child named Chloe.” The man and his wife read INTO what God’s promise was, rather than reading out of it.

LIFE & CULTURE

There's A Stranger In My House

Jan 22, 2016

I titled this entry There’s A Stranger In My House based on the song by Tamia. I do think that there is a stranger in my house. My temple has been housed by a stranger for too many days now and I can no longer let this be. I have neglected myself; I’ve not been caring for myself as I should be. I do not eat well, I don’t work out; I haven’t been putting in effort to dress the way I’d like. I’ve been lazy, uncaring, unbothered, and disrespectful to my body. This is not me. I don’t know who this stranger is but she has got to go!

I have been thinking about what Self-Love looks like and how one gets to a point where one has learned to love oneself, from head to toe. I think part of self-love is self-care: taking care of the body that you have, and getting to a point where you reach equilibrium with your body. To me, equilibrium is when everything is functioning as it should; you are in tune with your body’s needs and are able to respond to them adequately. I know this to be true for myself. I have not been at my healthiest state for the past 2 years because of various things that I allowed to overwhelm me, and my body has deteriorated slowly but surely. This year I have devoted to caring for myself—to eat better, exercise and do things that bring me pleasure, things that make me feel good about who I am. I have to remember that my body is the dwelling place of God. My body, with all its nuances and flaws has been deemed good enough by God for him to live in. My spirit and soul live in this body. I have to start nourishing it better. Our bodies take care of us when we take care of it. You’ll immediately notice when something is not right; or when you feel yourself getting sick; or something just seems a little off. I notice these things about myself, and I have noticed it for quite some time now, but they have largely gone ignored because life sucks sometimes! And it’s ok. But I know I have to start doing better!

We shouldn’t only think about our bodies as temples when we think about abstinence. We have to look at it holistically. A temple is a place of worship, and a dwelling place of God. You don’t want a temple that looks like it’s about to collapse on the outside, yet be flawless and clean on the inside; nor do you want a beautiful temple on the outside, but a sepulcher on the inside. Neither of them is attractive.

So start that work out plan! Commit to clean eating. If you fail, just keep trying. And remember, you are not doing this to meet anyone’s standard of beauty; or to be a great success story; or anything else. You are doing it to take care of yourself, to allow the beauty within to truly be reflected from head to toe, to be in sync with yourself. Just because your temple is wider, or pointier, or rounder with more rough edges than smooth, doesn’t mean it isn’t beautiful. Not all temples are built the same, nor do they even look the same, neither are they privileged in the same way. But they are valuable to the ones who worship in them. God resides in you. He worships with you. Your soul and spirit reside there. They are you. Your temple is so beautiful, and valuable, and is worth your gentleness, your love, and your care.

For the sake of Love.

LIFE & CULTURE

Can having a tattoo limit God's Mercy ?

Jan 19, 2016

A couple of months ago my grandma passed away. I wasn't emotionally moved by her death because I only met her once, I was grieved because my father was grieving--but we will leave that story for another day. As my house was being swarmed with visitors who wanted to pay their respects, I lingered around the family room trying entertain the guests. In the midst of the chatter and catching up, a close family member of mine realized that I had a tattoo on my forearm.

"You have a Tattoo?" she asked, her tone saturated with disappointment.

I nodded and tried to move away from the conversation, but she continued:

“You know God hates tattoos right?”

I smiled awkwardly at her and pretended not to hear the words she had just uttered.

But I was overwhelmed with emotions. A part of me wanted to look at her and tell her to mind her own business, and the other part just wanted to clap back and tell her to read her bible again in the right context.

But, however I handled the conversation wouldn't present a good outcome. Although I didn't respond back to her comment the words resonated in my heart, as though I should be ashamed of who I am in Christ because of a tattoo I had. Her expression and words made me really think. I thought about her quick judgement against me having something that in my culture isn't culturally accepted. I thought about how sometimes people don't really think before they speak ( i'm guilty of that myself) and how words can cut really deep if we're not careful with the words we choose. Even though I was bothered at the moment with what she had said I managed to quickly brush it off.

I got the tattoo before I started to take my relationship with God seriously. Although I heard many Christians say extreme things such as: " You will go to hell if you get one" I mentally prepared myself for the critics who would judge me on my tattoo. So as I pondered those words, I thought about God's grace and mercy. Was his mercy not in my life? Would he punish me and send me to hell because I had a tattoo? There were times I would be afraid to go to church and raise my hand and worship freely. I was so self conscious about what people would say. This really limited my worship. But the same God who knew I had a tattoo on my forearm saved my soul. He redeemed me and made me his. Did he not see that my tattoo would take me to hell ? Yet, Christ still chose to love on me and pour his grace and mercy on my life when no one did.

The topic of tattoos is such a touchy subject to talk about especially for Christians. This post isn't to encourage anyone to go out and get their arm sleeved-- but to grab hold of the reality that telling someone that having a tattoo is going to take them to hell is no way out of love. We tend to forget about all the things that God hates that we do on a daily basis that should doom us to hell. Like gossip, slander, fornication etc. If we were to highlight all our invisible sins, wouldn't HELL be knocking at our door?

We shouldn’t choose only to refrain to do things because of Hell. We should fear and tremble to do things because God hates it and we want to honor Him. Let our form of worship be to love God not because of our fear of hell.

In my OPINION there isn’t anything wrong with getting a tattoo. I do encourage you to check your heart and motives as to why you should want one and seek to God for the guidance and direction. I can only speak from my experience and I know that God continues to still love me with a marking on my arm that my culture may not fully accept. The state of our hearts is much more important to God than markings on our body. That’s the truth.

Let our judgement be pure and out of love so that others who don't know the Lord can feel accepted despite the choices and decisions they have made in the past. To answer the question to the post, Does having a tattoo limit us from God's mercy. The answer is simply--NO!

Although many may not agree with this post. It's not up for debate. I wrote the post to draw upon my own experience and to encourage those who may feel self conscious about having a tattoo.

But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." | 1 Samuel 16:17|

for the sake of his Love,

NanaOhh.