Dan Williams says that he sometimes cautions young people against making “tattoo mistakes” – “that is, making impulsive decisions that have the potential to follow them for the rest of their lives.”
Williams recently made reference to an article in The Daily Mail about a young Belgian woman who regrets making a “tattoo mistake” – literally.
In 2009, 18-year-old Kimberley Vlaeminck asked tattooist Rouslan Toumaniantz to tattoo some stars on her face. When he completed his task, he had tattooed 56 stars on her face.
Not long after the constellation had been imprinted on her face, Vlaeminck lied to family and reporters claiming that she had asked Toumaniantz for just three stars near her eye. She also claimed that he kept adding more and more stars after she fell asleep at the Tattoo Box in Courtrai, Belgium.
A week later, however, she confessed to a Dutch TV station that she had been awake throughout and had indeed asked for the full 56 marks.
Now at the age of 21, Vlaeminck regrets her decision. She says she has avoided going out in public because the tattoos make her feel like a “freak.” Last summer, she was preparing to pay £9,000 (over $14,000 US dollars) for laser surgery to remove the black stars. She fears that her impulsive decision to get the tattoos is going to follow her for the rest of her life.
Decisions made impulsively without proper judgment bring regret, and many times the consequences linger for years or even a lifetime. Every one who has sinned knows this all too well, and EACH ONE of us has sinned (Romans 3:23).
But the Good News (the Gospel) is that regardless of our mistakes, forgiveness is available through Jesus Christ, the Son of God….
“For [God] made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus died on the cross for our sins so that our sins can be removed, washed away by His blood (Revelation 1:5). His blood cleanses us from the deadly effects of sin and provides the gift of eternal life to all who will accept His offer of salvation (Romans 6:23).
In order to accept His offer of salvation and life, we must: place our faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from our sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and be baptized (immersed) into Christ so that His blood can wash away our sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16).
We may have to suffer some negative consequences (effects) for our impulsive and foolish decisions, but thanks be to God that through the blood of Jesus, we can be forgiven! And when we are forgiven by God, we don’t have to feel GUILT and fear ETERNAL PUNISHMENT, because our sins have been washed away by the blood of Jesus.
Tattoos don’t condemn us; the stain of SIN does!
Won’t YOU allow Jesus to wash away your sins by accepting His offer on His terms?
David A. Sargent, Minister
Church of Christ at Creekwood
