WHOA That's Good Podcast - Is It Really OK for Christians to Get Tattoos? | Sadie Robertson Huff & Korie Robertson

Episode Date: October 17, 2022

Sadie and her mom, Korie Robertson, tackle one of the top questions they get: "Should Christians get tattoos?" Korie shares why she was initially surprised when Sadie wanted to get her first tattoo, and Sadie explains the reason why she wanted "fearless" on her inner wrist. They reveal the significance of their matching wave tattoos — and why Denmark was the best place to get them. Sadie encourages anyone who — like her — has struggled with legalistic tendencies, and they dive into the Word to really examine what the Lord said about tattoos in the Old and New Testaments. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's up sisters and friends happy Monday everybody. I have a feeling this episode is going to get a lot more than just sisters on it. I have a feeling everybody is going to want to listen to this episode because my mom and I are actually going to cover a big topic. So we get this question literally all the time. We'll just casually post pictures of our tattoos and we always get the question, is it really okay for Christians to get tattoos? Or we get not the question and just a lot of rude comments about us having tattoos and isn't that wrong? And you know,

people will just quote Leviticus 19 and be like, you're not supposed to get tattoos if you're a Christian. And so we decided finally to really read the word ourselves and really dive into like what does God actually say about this, what God's heart towards this. And I've always had like kind of like my answer for that. But now I feel like I'm so rooted in a salvage and the word of God when my answer. And I'm really excited to share that with you all. Mom and I are gonna talk about our own tattoos and we're gonna talk about our journey with discovering God's heart for this topic.

So without further ado, Mom let's tackle the question, is it okay for Christians to get the tattoo? First, you have tattoos, right? I do, I have two tattoos. Yes. Which I remember that was so crazy. I thought it was so crazy when you got your first tattoo.

Yeah, I got my first, it's the W on my finger. And yeah, it was so funny because like, I literally went to the tattoo parlour at like 11 in the morning, which apparently people don't get tattoos at 11 in the morning because it wasn't even open, no one was even there. And I was just like, went up there and no one's there. So the guy just pulls up and he's like,

oh, we don't open until like noon. Can you come back later? And I'm like, yeah, okay, so I come back at noon. And he's like, oh, we don't open till like noon. Can you come back later? And I'm like, yeah, okay. So I come back at noon. He's like, I'm not quite ready yet. Like, okay, it's fine. But yeah, so I got a W. I'm a finger was my very first tattoo.

And I'm excited about doing this because it is the thing. It's so interesting like whenever, you know, be post, which I don't like post about my tattoo a lot. But just in it. It's in a picture because and so people do notice and comment But I did do a post about the last tattoo. I got it because we got tattoos together in Norway but have little way. Yes, and And and Denmark does in North and Copenhagen. Yeah, we were we went to Norway and then we were gonna do it in Norway That's right. Didn't ever find a place and then we got them and went to Norway and then we were going to do it in Norway. That's right.

Didn't ever find a place and didn't work out. Then we went to Denmark and it was so fun. It was so fun. We all got them together. So, since we all did it together, I did post specifically about the tattoo and I wrote, you know, just kind of the reason why and what the tattoo means to me and everything. And it got so many comments. And most of them were of course beautiful and gracious and all that but there were a lot of people that you know some some were were hateful or mean but but most of them really lot of them were really just questioning like I've always been told as a Christian you can't get a tattoo and so you know like what do you believe about that? And why do you think it's okay?

And so, you know, some people are like, oh, you don't have to address the haters. And it's not, and I think in this, it's like, we're not talking about the haters. Like, we're talking to people who really genuinely have that question and want to know, like, why? Because there's a scripture in the Bible

that people always reference as Leviticus 19 as to why Christians shouldn't get tattoos. So I think it's really important for us to have the conversation. It's not just like ignoring this and like, oh, we have it, whatever. It's actually saying like, okay, let's study the scripture and why do we believe it's okay?

Which is so important for any question that you have. You have a question like, the best thing is to go to the scripture and especially if there is a scripture on the top of it that you don't understand to gain more understanding behind it. And to some of you people that are listening to this, maybe you're not a Christian, you didn't grow up in a religious home or a religious background

and you're like, what, this is crazy. There's nothing wrong with getting tattoos and maybe this can just help you know, why you're like, what? This is crazy. You know, there's nothing wrong with getting tattoos. And maybe this can just help, you know, why you're understanding for maybe why you've heard people say that before, maybe why people have had a reaction before. And I think it is really important to talk about this because I think in some religious homes, you know, it was like, you're not supposed to get tattooed

because it's biblically wrong. And then a lot of times I think it's just mixing with people's preference. Like people just don't like tattoos, older, the older generation just doesn't like them. And so I do think we need to just go and say, it's okay if you just don't like the look of tattoos. What we're really talking about,

is it okay to get a tattoo? So Mom, I want you to talk about the way of tattoo that we got, because I think this is really cool, just like the meaning while we got it. And I'm sure you also know my tattoos and then we'll jump into the question. Yeah, so the latest tattoo we got, both of us got a wave and it was so fun to have something that like we did together in that way, but we actually came to the decision together. We were on a beach trip and we were going through something difficult as a family at the time.

And I was in a season that I was like kind of like asking God like, you know, like, when are you going to answer this prayer? Like when is this is something that I've been praying about for a long time and I'm like not seeing the answer yet and say like when I'm not going to see the answer to this and it felt like a problem that was really big. And that was like, okay, like, it wasn't solvable on my own. It was something that I can't, I know that I can't do, I can't fix, I can't solve. It has to be through the spirit of God to solve this and to fix this.

And so yeah, it was something that we were really praying about. And I read this scripture that's in Jeremiah 522 and we happened to be at the beach when I'm reading this scripture. And it was a rainy day at the beach so the waves were like huge. Yes. And you were on the like your room,

was overlooking the ocean. And so we just got this view all day of the waves being so massive. When you guys had this little balcony and I had this view of the water and the waves just kind of crashing in. And so it was in Jeremiah 5 and 522 and it says, I made the sand for the sea and everlasting barrier,

it cannot cross. The waves may roll but they cannot prevail. They may roar but they cannot cross it. And I just remember loving it so much, and just because I was thought, I just had this visual of like the saying there and the waves, even though these powerful waves are coming in, that God can create this barrier,

that these waves cannot cross. And he's the one who creates the barrier. He's the one who decides, he's the one who created the waves, he's the one who can stop it. It's the one who decides. He's the one who created the waves. He's the one who can stop it. It's not me. It's not about power. And I thought it was really, really beautiful. So the first of that scripture,

what is so interesting is in this whole time right here, this is not this really encouraging time from God to be like. Like, you can do anything. Like it's not this time where God is talking to his people. Like, have confidence, be strong. You know, you can do anything. Like it's not this time where God is talking to his people. Like, have confidence, be strong. You know, you can do anything. He's actually like, admonishing them

because they are, they are like trying to put two things on their own. They're like, they're like, they're rebelling. They're trying to following different gods. They're doing things just actually opposed to him. And so he comes in like, and is like, like God and says, hey, like, like, and he starts out, he says, should you not fear me to close the Lord?

Should you not tremble in my presence? And then he goes in to say this, I made the sand a boundary for the sea and everlasting buried cannot cross. The ways may roll, but they cannot prevail. They may roar, but they cannot cross it. And so he's actually saying like, like, stop. Like, yeah. You're trying to do all this of your evolution. You're trying to figure it out. You're seeking other gods, other ways, other things. But like,

I'm the one who created all of this. I'm the one who created the ways and I also created the sand to stop them. And so it's just like constant, this constant reminder, like on my arm. That's so cool. I love that. That one got someone he's in charge anyway. Yeah. And then two, he's the one who can stop the waves. Yeah, that's so good. I love it so much.

And I remember even that night, I was on Instagram and Hillsong posted like a throwback. Remember, and I was then singing, like, when the ocean's rasset enters roar, I will store with you above the storm. And then, even think about Psalms 46, where it talks about how even when the ocean crumbles into the heart of the sea,

that I will be still and know that you are God. And so, in our circumstance at that time, it just felt so crazy. And it was like, this feels so chaotic, but I know God that you set a boundary line in the sand that although this can get really wild and you're hearing the waves roar and foam like it can't pass like the boundary of your love. The evangelical style which was so much comfort for us in time. So he sent me that song and I did it. I did it. I did it. Look at what this game on

Instagram. And so that was like three years before we even got tattooed. So we thought about it for a long time and then we were like, at the moment's right and Denmark, there's a place where it's just so cool. There's another quote that you said of the tattoo that I loved. Laney had told me that. Laney doesn't have a tattoo, but Laney was like, if I ever got tattooed, I get a wave

and the reason why she said she heard this quote and it said, learn to ride the wave that slams you into the rock of ages. And I was like, that is so good. It's like learn to ride the wave of life that slams you into the rock of ages because the waves of life are crazy. Like sometimes you're gonna be at the top of the wave, like seeing the view is gonna be gorgeous

and sometimes you're gonna be like in the rubble. You know, like underneath like, can't get your breath. And I've experienced both of those many times of our life, you know But learn to ride it until it slams you into the rock of age is the sadness of God and so Yeah, the way it means a lot to us, which is really cool. I have a couple other tattoos have my fearless tattoo My fearless tattoo is a first tattoo I got which I think you're a really surprised that I got a tattoo because I remember y'all being like you were the last kid of ours I got which I think you're really surprised that I got to tattoo because I

remember y'all being like you were the last kid of ours I thought would ever give a tattoo. Okay so I think actually this conversation is so good to have because Sadie was our one that was probably the I would say the one that struggled probably the most with this kind of spirit of like judge-minalism would do. Oh yeah. I believe that being more judgmental, for sure. But it's the best. It was all the compassion for the people who think stuff like that. Because I was like, you got a tattoo mom.

Like even though she got like a W, I was like, well, bother by it. I was like, whoa, there's a lot. But I think it came from a spirit of you like, you wanting to do things right. Like you were always the child that like didn't want to disappoint someone didn't want to like do the wrong thing I always sell the story and like I could be a good mom moment or a bad mom moment I'm still not quite sure I'm so question

So when Sadie was little when she was I don't I can't remember first grade or second grade She was like second grade second grade I remember you remember so she was, I can't remember first grade or second grade. She was like, second grade. Second grade, I remember. I remember. So she was so concerned. So back then, the discipline was, you had to pull a strap. It was like, at school, you got in trouble. You got in trouble at school, you pulled a strap. Well, Sadie was so worried, like, she just did not want

to pull a strap. And so every day, she'd come home and just, and it became like a strap, like an anxiety within her that like, like what she would just die if she had to pull a strip. And so I as a mom just felt like, she really needs to kind of just get over this so she can live her life and enjoy second grade

because it felt like it was taking away her enjoyment. Like such like I had to be like perfect. Like at school, like I did not talk. I had like perfect manners. I was like I have like I cannot get trouble. I was so scared of like doing the wrong thing. So I had a conversation with her teacher and I was like you know like I really think Sandy needs to just get over the spear and I think if you if she pulled a strap then she would realize that like okay it's okay life goes on I can live through it. So I told her I was like if there's something that she does even little it's okay, life goes on, I can live through it. So I told her, it was like, if there's something that she does, even little, it's okay, pull her strap,

and so that she kind of gets over this fear. And so, what, I don't know what you do. I don't know. I was so confused. I stood up to scan my math. You remember how you used to be like, you bubbling the letters with the math thing and then you scan it?

So I was sanding up the scanner and another teacher walked in the room. And it was like, I didn't even know this was a rule and maybe I guess it was, but it was like, if another teacher is in the room, then you need to sit down like, I guess. I don't even, I guess it's like a respect thing. And Miss Eater, love her so much, so much for her teacher,

but she was like, city Nidika Polistricht because you were sanding up when the teacher was in the room and I was like What? This is a rule. I didn't even know like of course I would have like I would have a pay the rule. I want to sit down and I was trying to scare my math and Yes, and then I think I like forgot to put my name on the paper So I ended up pulling like two strips out here, and I was like But yeah, I mean it did I, it did help me work through that

because I cried so much and I remember you comforting me. It's okay. Yeah. You didn't hear anything wrong. But I was definitely more judgmental and I mean, and I remember like when like what was the drug week, the red, I was like, I had to go to the drugs, wake or whatever. Said he the drugs, wake or whatever.

Sadie was like, oh my goodness, so like into that week and like, into, red and weak. Red and weak and so Lily does not smite cigars very often at all, but like you know, every once in a while I had smite cigars and oh my goodness, Sadie was like so bothered about that,

did not, yeah. Yeah, I felt like he was doing drugs. He was saving his life and when I threw away his wife, I got his gochelle. That's like I'm saving your life. You don't know what it's doing to your looks. Yeah, that was me. I was definitely a little bit more in, but I did just really want to do the right thing.

It wasn't even lying to me. I wanted to do the right thing. It wasn't even like to be doing the right thing. It wanted to do the right thing, and I had a standard to uphold. That's right. Like at school, each year, there was a most Christlike award. And every day, I thought about that. Like I was like, I want to be the most Christlike. Yeah.

But that definitely teetered into more of a legalistic mindset than really being like Christ for sure. Which is I think a great topic for the topic of tattoos a great conversation because I do think this can really teeterine a line of just being legalistic and not really being like Christ. And sometimes it can come initially from a spirit of just like wanting to do what's right. Yes. But like anything Satan can take anything and twist it and turn it and it can become legalism or judgmentalism when it started as a spirit of just like okay I want to do the right thing

but whenever you take that to the extreme this is where it ends and leads. Absolutely. And the irony of me getting tattoos, this is so cool. Is that the more I grew in my relationship with Christ and the more I grew spiritually with him and different as with my life, the greater desire I actually had to get a tattoo. And it was because I wanted that marking of what I had experienced in Christ. For instance, like my fearless tattoo. I was so, I was so fearful in high school. I mean, truly, I don't think people believe me when I say that because I'm so fearful in high school. I mean, truly, I don't think people believe me

when I say that because I'm so not like that anymore. But you want through that with me and I had a stream anxiety, like stream panic attacks, stream anxiety. And it was just really, really crippling, honestly. And I started kind of working through that finally. And I just remember just really taking on that scripture that I've not been given a spirit of fear,

but went to power, love, and a sound mind. And I was just like, I've not been given a spirit of fear. Like God has given me with his spirit, like power, love, a sound mind. Like I thought about the verses in Isaiah that you would quote over me, fear not for I'm with you, do not be dismayed for I'm your God. Like I do not have to be afraid, God is with me.

Even whenever God said to Joshua, like have a not committee be strong courageous, you gotta be terrified, but like for the Lord you got to as with you, just realizing like, okay, it'll have to be afraid cause God's with me. And I wanted to get a fearless statue right here because whenever I would get scared and anxious, I would start doing this with my wrist.

I don't even know if you would. I'd really like do this. This was like, go to anxiety move. Yeah, I would just always do this. And I was like, I want to get fearless right here because every time I go to do this, I just want to see and be reminded that I can be fearless.

And it's not that I'm actually fearless that I have fear. It's that like, because of the words present some out of life, like I don't have to be afraid. And it was such a reminder to me. So I and I got it on the inside because it was it was for me. Like it wasn't for anybody else like to see it was for me. So it was big and clear and I'm already saying this bigger than I thought it was going to be like I need it to be right in my face. Yeah. And then I got live in original, which I mean, those are my words, that's my whole thing.

It's my message that God's really put on my heart and on my life, and that's the ministry that I do. And so I think that is really cool. But as I study scripture on this topic, I can see why that was birthed out of a relationship with Jesus. Yeah. And so let's dive in.

We've kind of already referenced a couple times that there's a verse in Leviticus that talks about not getting tattoos. And this verse, we're gonna read it so we can all hear it exactly how it says it's Leviticus 19 and it is the Lord speaking, God's talking to the people and basically under the umbrella you all need to be holy as I am holy and how you're going to be holy is by keeping the law and there is a lot of the law and there's a lot of things I actually looked it up last night. There's 613 laws. It's just a 13 in the first five books of the Bible, which are the Torah, which is what was handed

to the Jewish people to be holy. Yes. So back before Jesus came to be holy and to be in the presence of God, you had to be holy, which is why they were making so many sacrifices all the time because they weren't holy. They would break the law and they'd have to make sacrifices so that they could get back in the presence with God.

So let's fast forward just a little bit and tease what's coming. The reason why we don't have to have a law anymore is because Jesus came as the sacrificial lamb for all of us. So he paid the ultimate sacrifice so we no longer have to make sacrifices to God and maintain this holiness because we get to become holy through the blood of Jesus covering our life. So this was pre-Jesus. This is gotta be holy, 613 laws. So Leviticus 19, verse 28, we'll read it exactly what it says.

It says, you should not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourself. I am the Lord. So right there people take that I would say out of context they just take that verse and they say you should not get tattoos this is the Lord. So period right? Okay well we could take that as period but let's read the verse before verse 27. You should not round off the hair of your temple or Make any edges off your beard. So basically says don't cut your hair Don't cut your beard. Okay, so you're gonna say don't get tattoos and you shouldn't get tattoos and also you need to consider that You shouldn't also cut your hair. Yeah, make edges of your beard

also you need to consider that you shouldn't also cut your hair. Yeah. Make edges of your beard. There's one a little bit ahead of that. It says do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material. I feel that. So like if we check our tags, then two kinds. Yeah, then we probably couldn't be wearing what we're wearing today. So nope, it also says that if you're going to come into the land and plant any kind of

tree for a food, then you show our guard it's fruit as forbidden, you should wait three years before you even eat the fruit. So we also would need to wait three years before we eat any fruit that grows off the land. Also a big one is keep the Sabbath holy so that would mean on the seventh day of the week you don't do anything like at all. So I'm just saying this verse about tattoos is grouped into all of these other laws that it doesn't seem like we keep. Nordic people even ask you to keep your think about you keeping your

judge you for not keeping. You know, no one says to me when I have a tattoo, but do you keep this out of the hole? Do you wait three years to eat the fruit? Do you cut your hair? Like that's not even a question And so it's interesting that we take this one verse and we care so much about it And that's what makes me think okay is this because it's more about personal thing Is it a preference thing? Is it a judgmental thing in our heart? but also The verse is not even just referencing tattooing yourself like like tattoos that we get. It's not like you're putting a little heart on your body.

That's not what they were doing. Back in this day, why he said, you should not make any cuts of your body for the dead or a tattoo yourself. It was making reference to these people were getting, like, like, cutting themselves, getting tattoos of, like, dead people and like, gods that are, like, not real.

Oh, gods that are not the holy god. So God's saying like don't identify yourself and mark yourself with these idolatry images that are not me. And you know, he doesn't say you can if it's me, but essentially don't do that. Like don't mark yourself with something that's not actually your identity.

Yeah, I think the spirit behind that's important. The spirit behind that law was really more about this pagan custom of really worshipping the ancestors, worshipping the dead. And so it wasn't as much even about that, but it was about cutting your bodies and marking your bodies for the dead. And so that is another layer to that. But I think one thing that people say, oh, well, you don't do that.

So you shouldn't, then we don't do that. So it's not even about that though, because if it were that about that, then it would be like, oh, well, maybe we should observe all these. So then you can go there. Like when you say, oh, well, then I guess I'm going to have to like learn all these laws and follow those, but that's not the answer either. Yeah, I said the answer because we're no longer under the law.

And that's really important that we read these scriptures too. These, this is in Romans, we're gonna go to Romans seven. And this is where it talks about us no longer being under the law. So, Romans seven, we're starting verse four, and it says likewise, my brother, you have also died to the law through So, Romans 7, we're starting verse 4, and it says likewise my brother, you have also died to the law through the body of Christ so that you may belong to another, to him who has raised you from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God. So, basically this verse is so clear, it says you've died to the law, we're no longer under the law. Now we're raised in the body of Christ and we're raised

from the dead because Jesus was raised from the dead. Like I said, we're covered in that sacrifice from Jesus. And now what we're called to do is we're called to bear fruit from God. That bear fruit for God by just being his child. So like us bearing fruit is no longer based on like us keeping the law. Us bearing fruit is bringing people to the Lord, walking and obedient to God. Now that doesn't mean you dismiss everything from the law. It even goes on to say, then what shall we say that the law is sinned by no means? The law is not sinned. It goes on to say there are things in the law. Like that's how we learned what sin is, you know, but at the same time we're free from that, that condemnation that bond of the law. And then says this in verse 6, but now we are released from the law having died to that which held us captive. And I think that

is so huge. That is how that held us captive. Like those things that held us captive, that we can't keep. It's an impossible sinner. Like God knows we're simple people. One, if you think back to you in your childhood, like you pulling that strip, or you, that was holding you captive, you weren't able to be free and who you were, you weren't able to speak, you like, you're taking a thought,

you didn't even talk in so long. I didn't even have a personality. Yeah. That was like, We were so perfect. I can like, at home, I was like crazy and so fun. And to him, you were so free and fun and all this. But then you were held captive by the law

because you didn't want to break the law. And that's like such a perfect example and visual of how we can live as Christians. And while people who look at Christians and like, oh, I don't want that, that's no fun. Like, I don't want to have to be a robot and not speak and try to stay in this box and not step out of this, step across this line or I might get struck down.

Like, people who are outside of Christianity look in at Christians sometimes and see. That's not fun. See that. And that's where that one, people say, Christianity isn't fun. That's where that comes from. Because it isn't fun to be held captive. It is not fun to See that's and that's where that when people say Christianity isn't fun. That's where that comes from because it isn't fun to be hell-catching. It is not fun to be held by the law, but it is so fun to be found in the freedom of Christ

Jesus still being obedient to the Word of God still following the commandments of God as more as like loving the word your God or heart your heart, soul, mind, strength, loving your neighbor's self, and not actively trying to sin. We're preventing him sin and turning to the Lord, but there is freedom in who you are. It says this, so you have been released from the law, and it says which code is captive, so that we serve in a new way of spirit, and not in the old way of written code. So there it is. We're serving in a new way now. We're serving in the spirit, and not in the old way of written code. So there it is. We're in a new, we're serving in a new way now. We're serving in the spirit and not by the code. And that is such a difference. And that's why like if you just read the Old Testament,

I mean, you know, you gotta stay for the best part. You gotta stay for Jesus. Like that's where the freedom comes. I wanted to read also just parts of the Bible that Jesus is kind of addressing this legalist experience. freedom comes. I wanted to read also just parts of the Bible that I really like Jesus is kind of addressing this legalist experience. Jesus is addressing the Pharisees. There's a lot of that. I know you had a verse, did you want to read that? Yeah sure. So Galatians, I think Galatians is a great place to go because it's

it's literally it's like six chapters and you can read it really quickly but it's really Paul is right into the read it really quickly, but it's really, Paul is right into the Galatians really about this one specific thing because they had gotten trapped in this and he actually calls it like a gospel that I did not preach to you that did not come from from Jesus. It's a different gospel whenever you're trying to live a gospel that is under the law. And so he's like, really, I mean, he speaks of them very harshly because he realizes the harm in this

because the harm in this is denying Jesus sacrifice. Whenever we try to live under the law and we try to say like we have to do it all perfectly, what we're doing is really denying what Jesus did for us and the price that he paid in his sacrifice. And that's not how we get to God. We only get to God through Jesus. And so, yeah, so Galatians 3 really talked about this, about this was really good.

So it says, before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ. So the whole point of the law and the Old Testament was to get us to Christ. Yeah. Was the lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. And so I thought, you know, that really like sums it up. Exactly what's saying in Romans 7. So this is a continual thing throughout the New Testament.

And a continual pull for people to like, oh, let me go back and try to do it all myself. The reminder is like, nope, it's not about you. It's about Jesus and about what he did. It's good. And then I thought, okay, here, this is a little bit for that 319. It says, what then was the purpose of the law.

It was added because of the transgressions, because we aren't perfect. The law was there because we can't live up to the standard. Yeah. Until the seed to him, the promise referred had come. So the law was put into effect through angels by mediators. So the law, it's not that the law was about it, did come from God. It came to his people, but it came to get them to Christ. Yes. And the law, the reason why they had so many laws was because God was trying to help them.

Like a lot of the laws were like, I read this somewhere where it talks about, you know, in Leviticus 19, it talks about not eating meat with blood in it. But like, now we eat steak. So you can say, well, you can't eat steak if you're also going to abide by a law. But God wasn't saying that to be like, you can't have steak. God was saying that because they didn't have the kind of medicine. They didn't have the kind of things that could have helped them if they got any kind of like disease disease for not. You know, so a lot of it was God's protection over his people. God's love for his people. God's trying to keep his people holy.

Like Adam and Eve had already sinned and destroyed there. It's time Noah, two chapters in, sorry, two pages in, a couple of chapters in, about six chapters into the Bible. God was already destroyed the whole earth because it was so sinful. So then God created a law to be like, hey, let's say under this and like things are going to work out,

but we can't uphold that. So then God's like, okay, like the only answer is I send my son. The only answer is I send the sacrifice and give you an example of what it looks like to live, to live a life honoring to God. Yeah, that's a super interesting study. Like I love to like, you go and you read this, some of these laws that like the Jewish people knew things that like science didn't catch up on until way later because God gave them that law. It's crazy. And it was to protect

them. It was to keep them, keep them healthy. And like even if you think about that, like tattooing and marking your body, cutting your body, like the disease that could come in, they didn't understand about all those things. So a lot of it was really just for protection, to keep them. Yes, and this is the thing, I think you know, think about sin and a practical sin sometimes too.

Sin leads to death. That's right. So sin leads to death, not just spiritually. Sin leads to death physically. Like there's a lot of sin that will literally lead you to death. That's just not good or healthy for your life. God's marking of what is sin is, yes, things that are separate from him,

but who has got his life? God has loved, God has life and life abundantly. That's when he comes to give and bring. So in a practical sense, what brings life, what brings death? I love Mark chapter three, because we get to see Jesus having this encounter with the religious people.

And when he's trying to do something good. And this is what I want us to think about, for those who have a tendency to be overly religious and who have a tendency to comment, really mean things on people's posts, because then like, this is what the Pharisees were doing and Jesus was very, yeah, we're going to read into some minute, did not like what the Pharisees were doing. So in my chapter three it says again, he entered the synagogue, which is Jesus, and a man was there with a

withered hand and the Pharisees watched Jesus to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath. So we already talked about this, the Sabbath, keeping the Sabbath holy, which would mean not doing anything on the Sabbath, was part of the law. So the Pharisees, the religious people are sitting there being like, is he gonna do it? Is he gonna heal on the Sabbath, which would require him to do a work? So it says, so that they might accuse them. So here they are, literally watching to see, is he gonna do it? Because if he is, then I can accuse him. Yeah.

And he said to the man with the weather hand, come here. And then he said, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save a life or to kill? Jesus said that. So Jesus basically addresses what the Pharisees are thinking. And it says, but they were silent. And he looked around at them with anger,

greed at their hardness of hearts, which is just like right there like Jesus He was angry and he was grieved at their hearts for being so hard that they would literally sit there and Wait to accuse Jesus of doing something good because it was against the law Yeah, Jesus goes on to say to the man stretch out your hand He stretched out and his hand was restored the Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him on how to destroy him. Wow. I mean, like Jesus literally healed a man and they're like, gotcha, like let me go do this.

And I can't help but see that in our world today with a lot of Christianity. It's like, let me wait until she does one thing that's against the law and then accusation, whatever, whatever that might look. I have YouTube videos of people saying, don't listen to Sadie Robertson preach because of the littlest things. I'm gonna be like, that's wrong, that's off,

that's not, that isn't, look like the perfect, like standard of Christianity, but the perfect standard of Christianity is to be a follower of Christ. Right. So love going to love people is to make disciples. And so like Jesus was literally grieved at the hardness of their hearts by this behavior. And I think a lot of people, I mean, I hate it because a lot of people in the world who aren't Christians, and I've had people directly say this to me,

they say, they're Christians are just so rude. That's why people don't like Christians. They're so rude, they're so judgmental. And I'm like, I get it. Like, Christian people have been some of the rudest people to me in my ministry. It's Christian people. The people that are the most judgmental about what I'm doing have been people in the church because I'm a woman preaching because of whatever it is. And so I'm like, I get that. But I always say to them, but that's not Jesus. So you see, and actually that spirit, that religious spirit, and that Pharisee and like attitude

is what Jesus was bothered by too. Like Jesus despised up. And so when I hear people say that, I'm like, but please don't do that, Jesus, because that's all there Jesus to. Yeah. That group is hard to do. That made him angry too. Yeah.

Because that is not his heart. Yeah. If you look, if you read the Gospels, you will find that Jesus' harshest words were reserved really for the religious people. When he got the most angry, when he really spoke the most harshly, it was because it was people that were, like, you would have looked out of the time and said, oh, they're the Christians. They're the religious people. They're the ones that are like sacrificing at the temple, but they were the ones that Jesus was the most aggravated with because they

didn't understand why he had come. They didn't understand the sacrifice that he was making to come and bring them freedom. And he didn't understand what Jesus says is the two greatest commandments. Love God and love others, love your neighbor. And he summed up all the law in that right there. I'll never forget whenever you did dance with the stars. Someone said to you, well, I guess my girls are going to have to find another role model now because in their mind, you had like, just qualified yourself as a role model because you had danced and you know, because of their judgment about what a Christian is supposed to do. And so it was so sad to me that someone would say that to you and it was just really crushing.

But it really does. It kind of exemplifies what we do sometimes. Especially with Instagram or whatever, the social media, it's like we're just scrolling. We're watching a, when are they going to have the fall? Or like, when are they gonna have the fall? Or like, when are they gonna do something that I can, I can say, I can, I can find the spec of sawdust in their eye, and forget about the plank in mine.

And so I think, you know, it's an easy place to go to say like, okay, I'm gonna watch, and I'm gonna like, and I'm gonna judge, and then that's gonna disqualify them. Oh yeah. From, from me, from hearing I'm gonna, I'm gonna watch and I'm gonna like and I'm gonna judge and then then that's gonna to scoff at them from from hearing anything from them or learning anything from them. It is so real. I love that you just brought that up because I have had so many directly say, my daughters will have to find a new role model because you've lost it now because I was dancing because people don't believe that you should dance as a Christian. I get that comment by the way all the time when I post dance videos with Christian. We have the rudest comments about us dancing as Christians and we're not supposed to dance which is not

even biblical. Like there's so many verses about dancing. Yes, like so much dancing. Yeah, it literally says like, um, oh what is it? it? Like, you have turned my morning into like dancing in my stores and you boy like, yeah. That's even b- so it's just crazy. But then also I've gotten comments because of my tattoos. I got comments because of a woman preaching. I got comments because of the clothes that I wear that people feel like are maybe a modest.

And I'm like, you know what? Like every single person that Jesus chose to use for his CUNY would have been completely disqualified by the church today. Oh, yeah. Period. And so, but you're so right. Jesus had the harshest words for the Pharisees and Matthew 23, this whole chapter is seven woes to the scribes and Pharisees. And it's like, what are you for this?

What are you for this? But I want to read this one specifically because it actually has no money to say to me one time. So tell me what do you think about tattoos because I'm going to be honest and they said every time I see someone tattoos, I immediately judge them and I just think like they, they're whatever. And I was like, well, that's a you problem. That's a you problem. And so, but this, this to me is, is that. And it's chapter 23 verse 25 through 28. It says, what do you scribes and Pharisees,

you hypocrites? For you clean the outside of your plate, but inside you're full of green self-indulgence. By the way, this is Jesus saying, this is red letters. You blind Pharisees. First clean the inside of your cup and the plate and the outside may also be clean.

What do you scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites? For you are like white wash tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within our full of dead people's bones and all unclean cleanliness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are your full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. And I was just like, that verse, outwardly,

you appear righteous. So what would it look like for people to outwardly appear righteous? Would it look like not having tattoos? Would it look like being fully covered? Would it look like- About praying in public? Which also-

Yeah. This was critical. Like, be careful that you're not praying so that other people see. Fasting, but not telling any of it. And you must be careful that you're not fasting and trying to look like you had it rough. So everybody knows what you're doing. Be careful that you're not fasting and trying to look like you had it rough. Everybody knows what you're doing. Be careful that you when you give, let one hand not know what

the other hand is doing. Do it quietly. Don't do it publicly, outwardly. Like even with your language, just thought about a comment. I got one time that someone said, you know, you've lost it because I said, oh, MGM, I'm so excited for a conference. And they're like, oh my God. Did you really just use the name of the word on Twitter? Hello. Like, what does it look like to have periodious? Outwardly. But I think when you're in-ridly righteous,

when you're in-ridly, it happens what Jesus is saying right there. Like, that's what Jesus said. If you clean the inside, the outside might also be clean. I just feel like from the heart like so the mouse just being from the heart is it's the well spring of life Everything overflows from the heart and when you have a fruitful heart when your heart is bearing fruit when it's watering The soul of your life like yeah, it's all around you like the goodness of God is all around you the The love and the joy and the peace and the kindness and goodness and the self-control and all the things.

Yeah. It's around you. And so all this to say, it really is about the heart. The heart of how you said Jesus summed up the law by saying love the Lord your God, like your heart's all mine and love your neighbor as yourself. Like this is the new law.

Now that does, he does also, there's also saying, the Bible, this is mean by the grace that we can just keep on sinning by no means. Don't keep on sinning. No, be crazy, follow the Lord. Like use wisdom, ask the Lord for wisdom in what you're doing. And I think that's always a good place to be.

John Piper said, you know, ask God, if you're gonna get a tattoo, is this glorifying you God? Am I bearing fruit for your name, God? Like, is this a wise choice? And, you know, if you feel peace about it, if you feel like this is in alignment with the gospel of Jesus in alignment with what I'm trying to do and making disciples for Jesus Christ, then yeah.

Yeah. There's also a scripture, I don't know, I didn't look it up before, we came, but I just came to me about like, you know, if it if something is a sin to you, if it's against your conscience, don't do it. You know, talking about eating meat or about because there was a huge argument at the time about whether or not you could eat meat or do these do certain things that were part of Jewish custom and got to open up to his people. And it said, if it's against your conscious, don't do it. So if like getting it to, it feels against your conscious,

like pray about it. Just got for wisdom in it. But don't do something that's against your conscious. And so my grandmother, I remember she didn't get her ear spears until she was like like 70 years old because whenever she was young only the bad girls got the ears pierced. Like that's what she remembered is like, oh, only the bad girls have the ears pierced. And I think that was something kind of perhaps in our culture for tattoos.

Like that that's reserved for the bad girls or whatever. But it's such a cultural thing. And eventually she got her ears pierced. I mean, she used to wear, she had all these like, clip on earrings, but eventually she got her ears pierced because she realized like, oh, that was a cultural thing. Something that was within my culture and how I grew up. And but it's not, it's not a got thing.

That is such a good way to put it. We need to ask yourself, is this a cultural thing or a Biblical thing? Is it cultural and I don't prefer it or is it biblical and God says don't do it because there's a big difference and we can't treat cultural things like biblical things when it's not because that's whenever we really set a bad example of who Christ is because that isn't who Christ is right. Right. Putting words in the Bible that aren't there. Yeah. But there's also a scripture that came to mind when you mentioned about modesty and you know, it talks about, but that scripture a lot of times we use it when we say like, oh, be modest,

like, make sure you have a lot of clothes on. But really that scripture is talking about modesty and and like don't put on all this outward adornment, but it actually specifically mentions like a wearing of jewelry, brightening of hair, and like we're both wearing jewelry, and we, we've already had my hair covered hair, right? Yeah, so it's kind of like, okay, if we are going by the law,

if we were back to the letter of the law, then we have to observe all these things, but the entire New Testament, it just always goes back to, it's the heart, it's the law, then we have to observe all these things. But the entire New Testament, it just always goes back to, it's the heart. It's the heart. It's the heart. It's good. And our dependence is not on us doing perfectly hard. It's good.

Dependence is on Jesus. It's good. John Piper preached a message a couple years ago that I'll always think about. And he says, the essence of good and evil is not doing what is right and not doing what is wrong. He said, the essence of really good and evil is the essence of good is like desiring God over anything else. And as a people is choosing the thing that's not the war to bring the satisfaction that you want. And we see that in the garden. It wasn't that she was doing the right thing or the wrong thing. It was that she chose to desire the apple, which was really the knowledge.

More than she desired who God was in her life. Right. And I think that is so true, especially when you talked about just if it's a sin to you, then it is because it's you, it's you desire something other than God. For me personally, I feel strong conviction over TV shows that I watch. There's hardly ever TV shows that I never find I can watch. It's not like reality games like Survivor and American Idol and stuff like that. But when it comes to TV shows, now all of y'all watch them and I don't think that's wrong for you to watch them.

I think it's great. If I could watch them in clear conscious, I probably would. But I can't. I feel convicted. And sometimes I still try to push through and watch it because I want to because everybody's talking about it because I'm interested in the show or interested in the plot. But the minute I feel the spirit be like, this is like, you don't have a clear conscience in this. Like, I'm giving you this conviction for a reason Yeah, I have to be obedient to that good and I just recently had that with another TV show I started watching all my friends were talking about it and I got a couple episodes in and I just started feeling

Convicted and I was like, this isn't even bad like I'm fast-forwarding through any part that's even bad Like I'm not doing anything that's like against my conscience. I mean like as far as you know, on paper, but I had it in my spirit. And like I have to follow that. That's right. I can't put that on someone else because that's not the word of God, but that's the spirit of God living inside of me. That's good. And so that's so true. Um, lastly, just let's end with this because I just think this is awesome. Revelation 19, 16 says this. And this is just food for thought. I mean, this is just really awesome. So Revelation 19, 16, sorry, let us get there.

Sorry about Jesus coming back and it says, and on his robe and on his thigh, he has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And some people say, Jesus has to tattoo. I don't know if Jesus has to tattoo. I don't know what it looks like to be stamped on his thigh, you know. I think it's a sharpie marker. What is it? What is it? We don't know. I mean, it makes you think a will's giant tattoo. I know there has a giant gyra tattoo. Just his other name. I forgot.

On his thigh. I think that's really cool. And, you know, regardless of what that is, on Jesus' thigh, whether it's an ink tattoo or whatever it is. Like, to me, it's like he has written on him, King of Kings, Lord of Lord. It's like this thing written on him

to glorify who he is. And so I think to me, like all of my tattoos are in alignment with who God is in my life, who God's been in my life. And all of them lived until the story of that. If you're going to be able to ask me, what do my tattoos mean? Like I can give glory to God through them.

Now if you've gotten a tattoo, that wasn't the greatest choice, greatest choice. It's not sinful. Like it's not and if it is like if it's like against the Lord maybe you can get removed. It's covered by the blood of Jesus. It's covered by the blood of Jesus. Like if you want to get removed, get it removed but it is covered by the blood of Jesus. If you repent of your sin, if you confess, if you turn to the Lord then it is forgiven. That's what the word says. And so y y'all, this has been a great study. Just wanna say, like, thank y'all for asking the question.

Thank you for genuinely being curious. It led us to the point of wanting to answer it. We're thankful that we have the word that is so packed with truth that we could go to and root ourselves on a firm foundation. If you, you know, have any friends or family members who have been really struggling with this topic, I hope that this can help bring some language to some of the things that you've all been having conversations around. I remember when we started getting tattoos, we had conversations

with family members about our thoughts around that. And so maybe this can help bringing some clarity in your family's lives and just scripture behind that. And so maybe this can help bringing some clarity in your family's lives and just scripture behind that. And if you aren't a Christian like I said and you're like, I don't know why this is a big deal, but maybe you've learned a lot about who Jesus actually is in his character, then I'm just so grateful for that because Jesus is greater than religion. Jesus is all about relationship. And that's why I'm so thankful for him and the sacrifice that he made. So anyways, we're going to kick off on Monday. Dang, we went in.

If you'll have any other topic that you all want us to cover, we would love to start doing videos like this. I can get mom in here and get some wisdom and we can cover topics based off of what we've read bibliothely and spiritually. So, I feel like any topic that you're curious about that you generally have a question about, maybe modesty would probably be a good one to cover. Just drop it in the comments below and we'll start studying and get to that. But I hope you have a great Monday my sisters and a friends. Thanks for tuning in. you