The Stories in Our Scars

There are other scars in our lives that tell the stories of where we have been and the paths we have trod . . .

Alethea's Mind

I have a scar on the right side of my face, very close to my eye. It’s one of those scars that you might not quickly notice if you’re not intently looking, but it’s there, courtesy of one of my brothers. As the tale goes, while we were playing outside the house, he began throwing things around. Unfortunately, one of the things he threw landed on the wrong target leaving behind a trail of blood, a good number of stitches and an unflattering nickname at school.

Not many people ask how I got the scar these days. There was a time when that question was asked by almost every person I spoke to, and I would narrate the story over and over again. It was the scar that showed I have a brother. His name would always be mentioned anytime I told the story.

Every scar tells a story.

From now on, don’t let anyone trouble me with these things. For I bear on my body the scars that show I belong to Jesus.
Galatians 6:17 (NLT)

When I read that verse sometime within this week, I thought long and hard about the scar on my face and what it represents. Then I thought about the scars that show we belong to Jesus.

Scars of rejection.

Scars of broken relationships.

Scars of mockery.

Scars of dying to ourselves, daily.

There are other scars in our lives that tell the stories of where we have been and the paths we have trod. The scars that hold our deepest secrets and those that expose our weaknesses.

Scars of abuse.

Scars of addiction.

Scars of failure.

Scars of missed opportunities.

But every scar is a life-lesson waiting to be taught. Every scar is a medal of survival hanging amongst others. Every scar is a page or two in the memoirs of the best version of you. Every scar is yours, unique to you, your something special that only YOU have got.

Jesus never hid his scars. He showed them to his disciples as proof that he was the one who had died, and proof that he was alive; proof that His life will be our life too. Because of his scars, we have eternal hope.

So don’t hide your scars because the story might not be pleasant. Don’t hide your scars because you think it’ll expose your shame. Don’t hide your scars because you want to be accepted. Don’t hide your scars because you just want to blend in.

Celebrate your scars because they didn’t stay as open wounds. Let your scars tell their stories, and one day your world would be better for it.

***

I have a scar on my belly. It’s a very ugly scar. Yes, the world may not see it, but I never fail to give it a rub every once in a while and smile . . . as I look at the ones who came through my pain to bring me so much joy.

 

 

 

Photo by Melanie Wasser

49 thoughts on “The Stories in Our Scars”

  13. You are speaking to me right now! I thank God I have come across your blog. I was in the midst of so much confusion whether to own up my testimony in my blog or whether to introduce a third party because of my scars and my cultural background. But I decided to just be me. When you said that we should not hide our scars because of the storms, that has given me more boldness. May God bless you!

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    1. Wow. That’s an amazing testimony. Thank you for letting me know. You have also encouraged me by speaking up too. It’s tough to give our testimonies wings to fly especially when we have a cultural context that looks down on scars, but we must remember that as children of God, our culture is no longer of this world. If Jesus boldly showed his scars to his disciples, we must never be ashamed of ours, even when they must have come by the most shameful circumstances…like the Cross of Christ.
      I’ll love to hear more from you, and yes, Jesus is AMAZING!

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  14. Tosin, Thank you for this. Paul was never ashamed of his scars, either. He mentioned them often, even the self-inflicted ones. He always was giving testimony of God’s saving grace in his own life, and of his own trials and tribulations, and even of the abuses and persecutions which he regularly faced. So, we, too, share our stories, because they are our testimonies of what God did in our own lives and how he can heal all wounds no matter how huge they are.

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      1. Thank you! Glory to God!

        Last January the Lord Jesus led me to write the story of my life in the form of a book. My husband had restarted a blog a few months prior to this where he was openly sharing about his own life and his sinful addictions, apparently as a means of trying to work through some things in his own life towards recovery.

        So, since he was now coming out in the open about this, the Lord led me to write my part of that story, with my husband’s approval. And, my husband wrote the Forward to the book.

        So, I prayed about where I should share this book, and the Lord led me to begin another blog just for that purpose. Since then other blog posts have been added if they are specifically related to that subject. But, I don’t write on there often.

        But, the book is where I share my scars and what the Lord did in my life to heal those wounds and how the Lord was using what I went through to minister his love and grace to others.

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        1. Amazing. And this has given me clarity on some things I’ve been thinking about. There are some things I’m not ashamed to share about myself, but I didn’t think it would be right to share them without my husband’s approval, because revealing these things will also have it’s effects on him. You path has shed some light I needed. Thank God for this. I really appreciate you sharing this with me.

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  16. Proudly showing the scar on my nose courtesy of my sister 🙄, and that scar on the belly 😂mine is more like tiger stripes. Very encouraging story, thank you for sharing Tos.

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