They say that repetition is the mother of all skills, which (probably) is true. If I want to master anything, I usually need to put an effort into it, fail and then try again. This is a good rule to live by – the willingness to fail is one of the main ingredients of creativity and creativity is at the core of being human. Being the only thing that God created in his own image, we are the only creatures in earth that has been given the ability to create. That’s the basic condition of every person on earth. Knowing Jesus takes it to another level.
What blew my mind (or should I say “one of the things that blew my mind?!) this week was re-learning what it means to have the spirit of the Lord Almighty living in me. The one who spoke everything into existing chose my heart to be his home. Now, what does that mean? It means that the one who created everything good, beautiful and brilliant, the master and inventor of all talents, the father of skill is at available to me at all times.
As every good master, God wants to teach us to live creatively, just as he does. That doesn’t necessarily mean that we all will be good painters or sculptors, because creativity doesn’t solely mean fine arts. It means creating something with your life, it means solving problems and change things. The amazing thing about having the Holy Spirit is, that we’re not left alone to find out what to create and how to do it. He will give us ideas, but usually he won’t just dump a finished plan in our mail box. The reason for this is found in God’s very own character. He is relational. He didn’t create us to have a bunch of robots walking on the face of the earth. He blessed us with desires, with dreams and hopes. He gave us interests and talents for a reason. Not for us to throw them away, but so that we can glorify God through the way we live. Co-creating with God is the only way to live life to the fullest, and if we’re not alive then what? Then Christ died in vain, because he died so that we could live.
I tend to doubt that God has given me certain skills. For the longest time I wouldn’t share my poetry with other people, because I was afraid to rob God of glory and become prideful when people would tell me that it was good. Obviously we have to check our hearts and motives, but God didn’t bless me with a gift of writing so I could put it in my pocket and never use it. He wants to write with me! And when I don’t believe in myself, He will believe in me. He has no reason not to since he’s the one who provides the ability to create and when he lives in us, our creativity is limitless.