The Scar

"He showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord." (John 20:20) Think about the body of Jesus after He rose from the dead. It is perfect. It will never die again.

It shines with glory. But it has one flaw. He kept the holes. Jesus kept the scars on His hands and His side. Why? He is God. He could have healed His skin perfectly smooth. He kept them because Scars are not wounds; they are stories.

A wound is open. It bleeds. It hurts. A scar is closed. It is healed. It is proof that you survived the battle. We often want God to erase our past. We want to completely forget our old addictions, our divorces, our failures.

But God usually doesn't erase your history. He buys it back and uses it. He turns your bleeding wound into a healed scar so you can show it to someone else and say: "Look. I was dead, but I am alive.

If He healed me, He can heal you." Your greatest ability to help others will not come from your perfection; it will come from your healed scars.

This shows the difference between Fixing and Redeeming . Fixing brings things back to exactly how they were before they broke (like repairing a dented car). Redeeming takes the broken thing and turns it into a masterpiece (like turning scrap metal into beautiful art).

Even in heaven, Jesus is seen as a "Lamb looking as if it had been slain" (Revelation 5:6). Scars remain as trophies of God's grace. Reflect on this: Are you ashamed of your past? Do you hide your failures from everyone?

Stop hiding. A Christian with no scars is hard to relate to. Show the holes. It gives other people hope. 👣 Take a Step Action: Own the Story. The next time you are talking to someone who is struggling, share a failure from your own past.

Say: "I struggled with this too. Here is how God healed me." Turn your shame into a lifeline for someone else.