By Erwin Jadraque
As followers of Jesus we serve a creative God. It's clearly visible in the creation narrative of Genesis, the crafting of the temple by Solomon, and even John's description of the new Heaven and Earth in Revelation.
And being made in the image of God, I firmly believe it is our birthright as His sons and daughters to be creative.
We were meant to follow in His footsteps, making something out of the vast nothingness before us. But the truth of this gift we've been given is often lost in our brokenness.
I experienced it first hand when I dealt with depression. The perspective I held, my broken identity, my self image, they were so far from God's. I didn’t think I was good enough, I didn’t think I was loved. And I imagine I'm not alone in this. We can so easily be discouraged in our creativity, buying into the lies that we have no worth, and comparing our art with that of others. This especially affects us as we enter into the cities of the world where there are so many distinct and awe inspiring artists.
In my depression I created art without purpose or worse, I wouldn't create at all.
I was using my art as a means of escape instead of it's original intent as a form of worship.
And here's the truth, the enemy will try to keep you away from the knowledge of who you really are. The enemy doesn't want you to create for a greater purpose. The enemy wants you to believe lies about yourself so that you won't create.
But God in His greatness, God in His love, He speaks truth into our darkness. He showed me my worth, He showed me who I was called to be. I am called to be His son, and my inheritance is my creativity. It's in my DNA, and it's in yours. Now I use art, whether it's music, photography, skating, filmmaking, or even fashion to glorify God and to inspire others to be creative.
We all have this spark, this potential for creative fire, but until we know God we can't truly see it come to life. We must first understand our identity of who we are in Him.
What if we all created out of a place of knowing who God is and who we are in Him?
Creating such amazing art that the people around us would see something different from the world. That they would see the Spirit of God on the art we create. We need to acknowledge our art's ability to glorify the Creator and to draw others to Him. And creating with an eternal perspective is key if we're going to stay aware of who are we creating for.
When we hold this eternal perspective we no longer feel the need to compare, but instead we can champion others in their own art. We can begin to see others as God sees them, each uniquely made to imitate their Heavenly Father in their creativity. My hope is that all will one day learn who they truly are, why they were made, and what they are capable of making.
“If all flowers wanted to be roses, nature would lose her springtime beauty and the fields would no longer be decked out with little wildflowers.” Saint Thérèse of Lisieux