11 hours ago
LISA HANNAN: A “tat” of truth
Lisa Hannan lives in Valdosta with her husband, attorney Miles Hannan, who has been practicing law in Valdosta for more than 30 years. She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Valdosta State University. You can find her at lisahannan.org.
My husband and I were having breakfast at a local restaurant recently, when I noticed the server, a nice young lady, had a tattoo on her arm that read, “God’s still working on me.” When she walked away, I couldn’t help but think and say to my husband, “Well, there’s a tattoo that will remain true until your dying day.” Many people have tattooed their girlfriends’, boyfriends’ or spouses’ names on their arms, thinking their relationship would be “forever” … until it wasn’t, causing them to black out or tattoo a line through that person’s name.
The tattoo, “God’s still working on me,” will never need to be crossed out. We are all a “work in progress” and will be until we, His children, meet Jesus face-to-face in heaven. But here’s the caveat—We can’t use that statement as an excuse to live like the devil. And, despite what some teach, not every person is a “child of God.” Some people, according to Scripture, are children of the devil.
Here’s what Jesus, who sees the heart of every person, told the religious elites of His day—the very ones who professed the loudest to be “children of God”— “For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning.
He has always hated the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). Jesus saw the hearts of the religious elite He spoke to that day. He saw their hypocrisy and knew they only had “religion” and not a genuine, personal relationship with God, His Father. And Jesus sees the hearts of every person living today. People say, “Don’t judge me. God’s still working on me…” But what some of those people mean by that statement is— “I want to live the way I want to live…so don’t judge me…‘God’s still working on me.’”
The problem with that mentality is that God only works on those who belong to Him. When a person is truly born again, when they repent and believe in the Lord Jesus, as Scripture instructs, those people love Him, His Word, and His ways. They desire to follow Him, honor Him, and serve Him—that is their heart’s desire, because God has changed and is ever changing their hearts to align with His. True Christians, who have been changed by a personal relationship with Jesus, aren’t secretly looking for excuses to rebel against Him and His Word.
I was 29 years old before my spiritual eyes were opened. In that moment, I saw for the first time who I really was (a rebellious sinner in need of a Savior) and who Jesus was (the Savior of the world and my personal Savior)—I call that having “spiritual double vision,” seeing two powerful truths simultaneously.
I had been in church for two years at that point, serving in different ways, but I was spiritually blind until God opened my eyes that day. Scripture teaches that only God can remove the spiritual blinders from our eyes and reveal Himself to us, and I am eternally grateful He opened mine [John 6:44].
I repented of my sin that day, as the Scriptures instruct us to do, and asked Jesus to come into my heart and be Lord of my life. He did, and thank God, He’s been working on me ever since…and will be until I meet Jesus face-to-face in heaven. I hope and pray that you, too, are a child of God, my Friend, and that you are walking with Him daily, as imperfectly as we all do—thank God for His amazing grace.
But if you have not met Jesus, I pray you will today. And as the young lady’s tattoo said, I pray you let Him continue “working on you” all the rest of the days of your life. If this article encouraged you or you want to know more about Jesus, please visit these websites and let us know: www.lisahannan.org or www.youareseenknownloved.org
Lisa Hannan lives in Valdosta with her husband, attorney Miles Hannan, who has been practicing law in Valdosta for more than 30 years. She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Valdosta State University. You can find her at lisahannan.org.
My husband and I were having breakfast at a local restaurant recently, when I noticed the server, a nice young lady, had a tattoo on her arm that read, “God’s still working on me.” When she walked away, I couldn’t help but think and say to my husband, “Well, there’s a tattoo that will remain true until your dying day.” Many people have tattooed their girlfriends’, boyfriends’ or spouses’ names on their arms, thinking their relationship would be “forever” … until it wasn’t, causing them to black out or tattoo a line through that person’s name.
The tattoo, “God’s still working on me,” will never need to be crossed out. We are all a “work in progress” and will be until we, His children, meet Jesus face-to-face in heaven. But here’s the caveat—We can’t use that statement as an excuse to live like the devil. And, despite what some teach, not every person is a “child of God.” Some people, according to Scripture, are children of the devil.
Here’s what Jesus, who sees the heart of every person, told the religious elites of His day—the very ones who professed the loudest to be “children of God”— “For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning.
He has always hated the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). Jesus saw the hearts of the religious elite He spoke to that day. He saw their hypocrisy and knew they only had “religion” and not a genuine, personal relationship with God, His Father. And Jesus sees the hearts of every person living today. People say, “Don’t judge me. God’s still working on me…” But what some of those people mean by that statement is— “I want to live the way I want to live…so don’t judge me…‘God’s still working on me.’”
The problem with that mentality is that God only works on those who belong to Him. When a person is truly born again, when they repent and believe in the Lord Jesus, as Scripture instructs, those people love Him, His Word, and His ways. They desire to follow Him, honor Him, and serve Him—that is their heart’s desire, because God has changed and is ever changing their hearts to align with His. True Christians, who have been changed by a personal relationship with Jesus, aren’t secretly looking for excuses to rebel against Him and His Word.
I was 29 years old before my spiritual eyes were opened. In that moment, I saw for the first time who I really was (a rebellious sinner in need of a Savior) and who Jesus was (the Savior of the world and my personal Savior)—I call that having “spiritual double vision,” seeing two powerful truths simultaneously.
I had been in church for two years at that point, serving in different ways, but I was spiritually blind until God opened my eyes that day. Scripture teaches that only God can remove the spiritual blinders from our eyes and reveal Himself to us, and I am eternally grateful He opened mine [John 6:44].
I repented of my sin that day, as the Scriptures instruct us to do, and asked Jesus to come into my heart and be Lord of my life. He did, and thank God, He’s been working on me ever since…and will be until I meet Jesus face-to-face in heaven. I hope and pray that you, too, are a child of God, my Friend, and that you are walking with Him daily, as imperfectly as we all do—thank God for His amazing grace.
But if you have not met Jesus, I pray you will today. And as the young lady’s tattoo said, I pray you let Him continue “working on you” all the rest of the days of your life. If this article encouraged you or you want to know more about Jesus, please visit these websites and let us know: www.lisahannan.org or www.youareseenknownloved.org
