Battle Scars

As I was laying in the bed this morning praying, the phrase or term “Battle Scars” came up in my spirit.  The definition of battle scar is the mark left behind by wounds or injuries received during battle that have healed.  Most of us know what physical battle scars are, but what about spiritual battle scars?  How do we get spiritual battle scars?

I believe we get spiritual battle scars from getting to close to sin and not close enough to God.  Sin is used to lure you away from God and once you begin to participate in or condone it, you will be wounded.  Most of the time we have to receive that wound before we realize how far we have gotten away from God.  Once we receive that wound some will repent and draw close to God, while others allow themselves to become mutilated by sin.  During this time of mutilation they try to justify their sin by saying things like my sin is not that bad, or God knows my heart, or I could be doing worse things.  As they continue to make these excuses that sin is cutting and slashing away at them until they become unrecognizable.  They keep trying to control it and figure out how they can balance living for God and still enjoy a little bit of their favorite sin.  Some fight this battle their entire life and lose.  Others return to God only after sin has broken and defeated them.  The sad part is they were fighting a battle that Jesus had already won for them.  Unlike Jesus, we cannot bear the weight of our sin, it will crush and defeat us without His power in us.

In Ephesians God tells us to put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the devil.  The first thing he tells us to do in putting on his armour, is to gird our waist with the truth.  I believe this is because until you admit the truth about sin and your sin in particular, you can’t put on the rest of the armour.  You have to be able to call sin a sin, even if it steps on your toes.  You cannot put God’s armour over lies and deceit. God gave us his armour to defeat the wicked one, not to allow us to play with the wicked one.

We all have some type of battle scars.  Some are old and maybe some are new but once God heals the wounds they become only scars.  These scars have no power over us but are only a reminder of where we came from.  These scars can become part of our testimony of where God has brought us from but should not have control over us.  Sometimes we become so ashamed of these scars that we allow them to prevent us from speaking out about God.  Sometimes we allow others to make us feel ashamed and unworthy due to our scars.  They point out our scars to keep people from seeing their scars.  If you have given your life to Jesus then your scars only show His victory.  They show that no matter how bad, disgusting, or filthy your wounds were, He was able to save you with his amazing grace.  Your scars are just your reminder of not only how awesome and powerful our God is but how merciful and loving He his.

Just as we all sin differently, our scars are also different.  This doesn’t make my battle scars any less or any more than your battle scars.  They are just scars that longer have any power or control over us.  Today if you are struggling with wounds from sin in your life surrender them to God and let Him heal you. Give him total control over all of your life and just watch what He can do.

Thank you and Please Share!