Behind the Scars

Core Scripture: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)

Message: Scars. We all have them. They might be wounds we inflicted ourselves. Or they might be lacerations caused by others. Some scars never fully heal. Others are easier to get over.

Scars can be seen as ugly, disturbing reminders of the past. There is a scene in the movie Glory when Denzel Washington is sentenced to a flogging in front of his battalion for stealing. His shirt is removed, and he stares down Colonel Shaw. Shaw gasps at the hardened, grotesque scars before him, revealing tumultuous years of slavery. These scars will live with him. Forever.

Scars can also be seen as beautiful. Even breathtaking. Scars seen this way become trademarks of God’s artful tapestry in our lives, weaving destruction into splendor. Working everything for His good. The story of distance runner Glenn Cunningham comes to mind.

At the age of eight, Cunningham was traumatized by a gasoline explosion. He lost his brother, and doctors told him he would never walk again. Third degree burns scalded his charred legs. There was no flesh left on his knees and shins, and all his toes on his left foot were gone.

By the grace of God, Cunningham learned to walk, and by the grace of God, Cunningham became one of the most decorated middle distance runners of his time. His legs still held scars from his tragic past, but they were only a reminder of the perseverance and determination he used to climb to the top.

Some learn to embrace their scars. Like the story of Andrea Casteel-Smith. Born with precancerous birth marks on her back, she was subjected to agonizing surgeries to remove them. Casteel-Smith hid those scars for years beneath her clothes, putting on a façade that everything was perfectly fine, when in reality she was tormented inside.

It took a humiliating moment later in life to humble Casteel-Smith. She was pulled over for a DUI and sent to jail. Before entering her cell, she was strip-searched, and suddenly the scars from her childhood were shamelessly exposed. It was in jail that she realized God had redeemed her. She embraced all her scars, physical and emotional, through an unconditional love from God that saw her scars as beautiful.

Me? I have learned to wear my scars like badges of honor. On August 14, 2024, I wrote a blog entitled “Thankful For the Scars.” I thought the worst of my scars were behind me. Little did I know the very people I was learning to trust at the time would impose fresh wounds on my heart that are still healing today. It was a month and a half later that those scars would become reality.

I was a mess. I remember having it out with God in my backyard for a good 45 minutes that day, asking Him over and over again … why? I didn’t like His answer, but the answer was clear as mud: “Because I have bigger plans for you, Clint. I need you elsewhere.”

On October 27, 2024, my tenure at Amazon began. God began taking a man who had only known teaching his entire career, a man who had never worked warehouse, a man who had never worked overnights, and turned him into Employee of the Month by April 2025. I became a Learning Ambassador that summer, and later in the fall taught my first two classes of new hires. Currently, I feel privileged to be considered for an L3 Process Assistant opening.

Amazon, however, has become more than just a job to pay the bills. It has become my witnessing ground. I have shared my story with numerous colleagues in the break room and after shift over lunch. I have encouraged other Christians through online Bible studies, and I have been a light to friends wandering through darkness. Never before have I had opportunities to share the gospel like this.

My scars have become part of my story. I embrace them. They make me who I am today, and I am okay with these wounds. Why? Because of the scars on my Savior’s hands and feet. Those scars mean everything to me. Jesus wore them openly. I am nothing without them.

On this week of Easter, I think of those scars and how they changed my life when I was saved on February 9, 2013. It was on that day that I realized how messed up I was and how much I needed a Savior. God is still working on me, and I am by no means perfect, but who is? All I can do is kneel at the cross and be thankful.

Scars can still hurt. They can still drudge up pain, but if you allow Jesus to work His magic, you too will see the beauty behind them.

Challenge: Who is one person you can give an Easter invite to this week? One heartfelt invitation can change someone’s life forever.

Song application: “Scars” by I Am They

Waking up to a new sunrise
Looking back from the other side
I can see now with open eyes

Darkest water and deepest pain
I wouldn’t trade it for anything
‘Cause my brokenness brought me to You
And these wounds are a story You’ll use

So I’m thankful for the scars
‘Cause without them I wouldn’t know Your heart
And I know they’ll always tell of who You are
So forever I am thankful for the scars

Bible study: Read Matthew 26-28 and journal about or discuss the following questions …