Dear beloved: I recently gave a teaching on tattoos to the inmates in the prison, as many of them have tattoos and were curious about what the Bible has to say about the practice. The prison culture is ripe for tattooing, with men who have lots of time on their hands as well as many ties to the demonic world of drugs, witchcraft, lawbreaking, and rebellion. If you are one who already has tattoos, or you are contemplating getting a tattoo, you might be interested to know what God's word says about it, and whether you should proceed to get a tattoo.
Everything we do in life has consequences, both in the physical and the spiritual realm. The physical consequences are obvious, but the spiritual ones are not so easy to discern. We look at the beauty, or in some cases, repulsive nature of a tattoo if it is obviously demonic, and make an immediate judgment on how it adorns the body, or about the statement that it makes to the world. Many inmates can tell their life's story through their tattoos; their gangs, their girlfriends, their associations, even their allegiance to Jesus or some other deity that they worship. Many, however, wish they could erase their tattoos with the ease of an eraser on a chalkboard, for they are embarrassed by the tattoo and the way that it has marred their body, or they are no longer attached in the spirit realm to that which they are connected to physically.
The Old Testament law clearly stated that tattoos were not to be taken on the body. They were viewed as blood sacrifices to the dead, and therefore forbidden. Leviticus 19:28 You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead, nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves, I am the Lord. 1Kings 18:28 So they cried with a loud voice (the prophets of Baal) and cut themselves according the their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them. v29 And it came about when midday was past, that they raved until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention. Although we have in the new covenant been set free from the bondage of old covenant law keeping, we are still under the grace of God to treat our bodies with care and respect, as the Spirit of the living God resides within our temples. 1 Corinthians 10:23 Paul states, All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. Paul declares in 1 Corinthians 6:15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? May it never be! Although he was speaking primarily of the need to be free from sexual immorality in this case, the application for all uses of the physical body are the same: we are to treat it as the temple of the Spirit of the Living God that it is. Intentional cutting to create tattoos clearly violates the commandment to not harm your physical body. If you have any tattoos of any nature, repent of the cutting and ask the Lord to forgive and He will be faithful and true to forgive you.
The second aspect of tattooing is the connection to the spirit world that the tattoo represents. If the tattoo is of a person's name, their initials, a deity of worship (idolatry), or symbol of something demonic, such as a snake, owl, or spider, repent and ask the Lord to break off the soul ties to that spiritual entity. When you tattoo the name or initials of a person, you have a connection, or soul tie to that person\, and the same goes for other entities, whether they are persons, animals, birds, reptiles, or whatever. I know a young lady who tattooed the initials of her deceased parents on her back, and almost immediately her personality changed for the worse, because she took on the soul ties with the demonic forces (generation curses) that had shaped the negative aspects of her parents personalities. When you make soul ties to the demonic kingdom, the devil actually takes part of your fractured soul captive and holds you in bondage. You must then repent of that connection, ask the Lord to forgive you and break the cord that connects. Then ask the Holy Spirit to come and fill you and heal you in the place of your soul where that void was left. If you have tattooed something that attaches to the kingdom of God, such as the picture of a cross of the name of Jesus, then you have tied your soul to your Savior, so the only repentance needed is of the cutting. Those tattoos will be a lasting testimony to the one who can save your soul, though in times of persecution they might cost you dearly, even to the loss of your head and body.
If you are contemplating getting a tattoo, pray about it and see if this is truly what the Holy Spirit is leading you to do. There are many ways to express your testimony other than tattoos which you may someday regret and wish to have removed. Although their are ways to remove them, it is not easy and can often times be painful and expensive. I pray that this will help some out there who may have questions. May God bless you today. In Christ, Jim www.gathertheoutcasts.com
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