Scars Are Cool

Yesterday, I talked about some of my scars. At least the physical ones. As I ponder scars, I kind of came up with three things to mention.

Scars. We aren’t supposed to, but we automatically begin to wonder, speculate, and even judge. We try to not be seen staring, but we often can’t help ourselves. What was the cause? How much pain did they go through? How long ago did this happen?

The point of this article is not dig up bad memories or hurt spirits, but to help us understand that 1) life and relationships can be difficult, and there are times we often do not know how to respond; 2) we need to realize that we all have scars and things about us that culture says detracts from perfection; and 3) we need to realize that sometimes what culture says is less than perfect is actually perfect in the big picture of our life.
So let’s unpack these briefly.

The first one – basically, people can act stupidly. I am not saying they are stupid. I am saying we, yes we, do stupid things. We jump off buildings into pools. We drive 40 through a school zone. We act on impulse, like buying candy bars at the checkout line. We ask questions without tact. We act, consciously or subconsciously, and do not think about how those around are thinking. These things take discipline to overcome. So we are to pursue, seek after, what builds up and edifies each other. (Romans 14.19) Seek Wisdom people.

Second, we all have something about us that makes us less than perfect – in the eyes of the society in which we live. (Not talking about sin nature here, but physical attributes as those society idolizes). Society tries to put forth this image of perfection. Ideal skin, size 0 dress size, buff like Ryan Reynolds, gorgeous like Halle Berry , or whomever you would put into those categories. But those peeps have scars and stuff too. One eye bigger than the other – ears uneven – web toes – cowlick – chipped tooth – something.

We are all in the same boat, in that we all have something. Which brings me to the last thought – culture doesn’t always understand perfection. The word means complete – to “do” “completely”. The Bible says that Jesus was made perfect. Understand this, Jesus is God so He already is holy and pure and, well, perfect. But the concept Hebrews is getting at is He completed that which He came to do – He came to die for our sins, bring forgiveness and reconciliation, and so much more. He reached the fruition of His purpose. He became perfect – complete. And you know what – He has scars to prove it.

These scars are not imperfections, but signs of perfection – signs He completed that which He came to do. And after wards, those scars remained (Ask Thomas if you doubt me – see what I did there, Thomas, doubt … you’ll get to later).

One way I see this as I close here – scars are sign of healing. If it wasn’t healed, they would still be wounds. So, if you have scars, let them remind you of healing, especially the healing provided by the scars of Jesus.

I kind of rambled today – but I hope you find encouragement in the fact we serve a great God who heals – all wounds. Scars may remain, but the wounds are healed!