My father was one of thirteen children. Three children were premature and did not survive for very long. Altogether, there were ten, seven boys and three girls, who survived to adulthood. All were born or living around the time of the Great Depression. They grew up hard and were very rough with one another.

Two of my oldest uncles moved to Texas at the height of the depression. Here they settled, made their living, and raised a family. We did not get to see each other often, so whenever we were able to visit, I would always ask them questions about their lives before and after moving to Texas. One of my uncles, Ridley, had a rather predominant scar on his almost bald forehead. When we are young, we sometimes ask questions that we would never ask as an adult. I enquired once about the scar, and this is what he related.

One day, Uncle Ridley was getting ready to go to work on my grandparents’ sixty-eight-acre farm and he had a minor altercation with my youngest aunt. As he left the house and walked toward the back field, he had to walk through a gate that opened into the area that he was about to work. When he turned back to shut the gate behind him, my aunt, still infuriated with their interaction, threw a butcher knife at him and did not miss. Unfortunately, the knife struck him on the forehead and lodged between skin and skull. He said the knife seemed to “vibrate after lodging underneath his scalp.” Any injury to the scalp bleeds profusely and after a few tense minutes had passed, the blood was under control. A visit to the doctor required several stitches and left a sizeable scar that was visible some fifty years later to my young eyes.

Most people have scars from some injury they have sustained. Perhaps they are not as dramatic as the one my uncle received, but human beings understand the nature of physical scars. It does not surprise spiritually minded people to realize that sin leaves scars upon the lives of those they impact. These scars can be self-inflicted or happen because of the sins of others.

Paul’s scarring was self-inflicted. It was caused by his former sins. When one reads his words, it becomes apparent that he was ashamed of his former actions and wanted to move past them. 1 Corinthians 15:9-10 says, “For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” Paul was sensitive of his scars associated with persecuting Christ and His followers

Many people are like Paul regarding former sins. Once they realize what the nature of Christianity and repentance is about, they express regrets for the manner in which they once lived their lives. The best thing one could do is become a Christian early in life and live in a godly fashion. Thus, the advice of Solomon is so profound. He says, in Ecclesiastes 12:1, “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, Before the difficult days come, And the years draw near when you say, "I have no pleasure in them."

Still, there are people who suffer for the sins of others. The sins of a blood thirsty, Jewish ruling class left real scars on the body of Jesus. John 20:24-25, 27-28 says, “Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, "We have seen the Lord." So he said to them, "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe…’ Then He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not

be unbelieving, but believing." And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus was physically scarred for the sins of the world.

In some similar ways, many people have wounds because of someone else’s wickedness. The family that is killed by a drunk driver. The individual who is molested by a member of their family. The person who is robbed at gunpoint and so many more instances could be listed. These people are not morally accountable for the sins of the criminals who have traumatized them, but they suffer the consequences and are left to heal the scars that are left behind.

The good news is that we can become new creatures in Christ. Paul realized this as he pressed forward in life. He said, in Philippians 3:12-14, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Regardless of our mistakes or the sins of others, in Christ we have the freedom to leave the past behind us and move forward in life.

What a glorious thought to know that in Christ, we are new creatures. 2 Corinthians 5:17-19 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” If one is reconciled to God, little else matters in regards to worldly considerations.

In Him, we have a new start because our sins are washed away and God no longer holds us accountable for former sins. Hebrews 10:16-17 says, "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says, the Lord: ‘I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds I will write them,’ then He adds, ‘Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.’” In Christ, you can heal from your scars and move on to a better life.