The Beauty of Scars

So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us. (1 Thessalonians 2: 1-8)

Scars - we all have them

People often spend lots of money on creams or medical treatments that cover up or remove scars. We all have scars, whether from a cut finger, broken arm, open heart surgery or any myriad of other marks life leaves on us. We look at our scars and remember the pain, the accident, the diagnosis that brought us the need for healing.

Sometimes our scars can’t be seen because they are from a broken marriage, lost children, or strained relationships that wound our heart and soul and can seem to take forever to heal. These scars are deep within, beneath the covering of skin and clothes, often buried as far as we can bury them.

But our scars help tell our story. In some ways, our scars help define who we are and where we’ve been. Scars give us a way of telling the story of our lives. “What happened to your arm?” “Oh, I fell out of a tree when I was 10 years old and broke my leg and both my arms. I was in the hospital for 6 weeks and in a body cast for 3 months.” So is the story of one of my dear friends.

“That’s a pretty ring,” one friend says to another. “It would have been my husband’s and my 40th wedding anniversary. I only wear it this one day. I miss him so much.”

Scars mark the story of our lives. The wounds we have help us to tell our story, to get past the shallow greetings and help us speak the truth. Scars are not meant to be dwelt on or to keep us stuck in the past. They are marks of a freedom known only in Jesus who took all of our pain and grief and sinfulness to the cross—and left it there; the ultimate healing for all that has caused us and will cause us pain.

As a family of Christ, I invite and encourage you to reach out and reach into the lives of your brothers and sisters who gather around you to give honor and praise to God. We all have scars and we all have stories that we can share that will help others to know the love of Jesus even during and especially during the darkest times of our life. In the sharing of our stories, God transforms the scars we wish we didn’t have into things of beauty and restoration for all to see. Through the sharing, God will make them beautiful.