The Scriptures instruct us to let our light shine. We are told to display the light that Christ gives us by our good works so that others may see it and thereby glorify our Father in heaven.
When you go to a show, why are there actors on the stage? Is it not because they all have a role to play? Some play a big role, some much smaller, but if they were not there for some purpose, they would not be on the stage in the first place. When you think about it, we are all actors on the stage of life. As, Christians, we are a theatre for the world. God placed us here for a purpose. We have a role to play. We are here to make a difference in the world we live in. The importance of a life lies in the impact it has on other lives. Hopefully, people can see your performance and determine you made a positive impact in the drama of life.
If I am going to make this positive impact, I must play the role God has assigned for me. I am not here to read your lines, but I am here to read my own lines as professionally and clearly as I can. To do this the Bible says that God has made me a partaker of the divine nature. Because I am saved, the Holy Spirit lives within me, I am born into God’s family, and I have the nature of God, which is the only way I could do His work anyway. Of course God has many virtues, but I want to focus on just one. That is, that God is a Creator. He is the only Creator that can create something from nothing. When we say that we create something, we are only rearranging stuff that God has already created.
So, because God is a creator, and I have His nature, that means I am a creator also. No, I can’t create any more stars, but there are things I can create utilizing the raw materials God has placed at my disposal. In that sense, we are all born to be creators. It’s in our very nature. Shouldn’t we be about our Father’s business? Shouldn’t we be creators as well?
If you have kids, you know what I mean. Almost everything they do is in a sense creative. Don’t you remember those magical times in your childhood when you could lose yourself in your imagination? You could become anything and anyone, and life was full of infinite possibilities and exciting potential. Logic didn’t get in the way, blocking your sense of freedom and joy. And if life was miserable, you could escape from it all through the creative, imaginative world you made for yourself. Creating is natural for kids.
In my day, we took two pieces of wood and a rusty nail and made an airplane. Modern kids can take a box of Lego’s and build all kinds of stuff. All kids are born creative. In fact, creation is in the very essence of all living things. How would the birds know how to create a nest or the spider weave a web if it wasn’t inherent in their nature.
As adults, even when the wonder of childhood begins to wane, that creative nature is still within us. That is one of the reasons we all have hopes and dreams. The difference between us as adults and kids and animals is that kids and animals work more naturally on instinct. They don’t have to sift through all of the self-doubt of their personal limitations. They just do what naturally enters their minds, and usually it makes them happy.
We, as adults, tend to get in our own way. And unfortunately when we stifle the creative instinct and feel unable or unworthy to pursue our hopes and dreams we are not creatively expressing our true selves. We don’t feel inspired and simply go through the paces of our routine lives. We let our thinking get into a rut and allow our beliefs to become fixed and inflexible. If we’re blessed, we’ll find some kind of outlet through our work or hobbies that will let us flex our creative muscles. But for many of us, those muscles are allowed to become stiff and unused, which in turn leaves us feeling stale and quite possibly bored with our humdrum existence.
Almost every day we hear of new innovations in technology, in medicine, and in the arts which remind us that humans, all humans, are capable of remarkable creativity. Creativity is our vehicle of self-expression and is at the heart of what defines us as the human race. For almost all of history, the popular conception of creative people was that they were born that way, with unique gifts that pressed them to seek out and fulfill the great creations of their destiny. They were the Da Vinci’s, the Edison’s, the Einstein’s, the writers, and the builders. They were the “chosen”ones who were bestowed with great creative power. Perhaps you don’t feel you can create much of anything today. But, just think of what your imaginations led you to do with a tub of Play-Dough or Lego blocks. We each began life as a creative child, so at what point in our lives did creativity forsake us? As children we are all naturally creative, yet by the time we reach adulthood, our creativity has been educated and matured out of us.
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” Pablo Picasso
We are all meant to shine as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in every one of us. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. It can be contagious. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. Think about the people that have inspired you. We will never know the inspiration our actions will have on other people.
Creating is one of the things we were put on this earth to do. It is one of the ways people can behold our works and glorify our Father. It may be books for people to read, songs for people to sing, houses for people to live in, churches for people to attend, radio stations for people to listen to, colleges or schools for people to attend; we were all born with a creative gene, desiring to express itself. We just need to awaken our creative instinct. Creativity doesn’t have to mean just writing, painting, or poetry, it can be whatever God calls you to do; whatever you are passionate about. It is about what brings you joy and the productive endeavor that makes you lose track of time.
Whether you are creating new things, recreating old things, or improving and building upon the creations of others; know this, you were born to create. You have the choice to honor that spirit within by actively choosing to express your unique creative genius in your own inspired way, and in so doing, you may very well contribute to the well-being of every person on earth. My challenge is that each of us will have the courage to embrace our creative gifts and share them so others might be blessed and encouraged by your calling.
If Jesus tarries His coming, we will all die. The goal isn’t to live in this flesh forever. The goal is to create something while in this flesh that will live forever.
“If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write something worth reading or do something worth writing about.”Benjamin Franklin
Don’t die with your music still inside you. Work your magic now, while you have time, work your magic into the world around you. Release your creative self. It’s not about creating a once-and-for-all grand masterpiece; it’s about getting into a routine of creation. It’s about igniting the spark and keeping it glowing. We were born to make manifest the creative glory of God that is within all of us. One of my greatest realizations was that my deepest fear was not that I was inadequate. My deepest fear was when I realized I was powerful beyond measure. It was my light, not my darkness, it was my power not my weakness, that most frightened me. I know this sounds prideful, but through Christ, “Who am I to be this powerful, this brilliant, and this talented?” Actually, who am I not to be? I am a child of God. I have the mind of Christ and the resources of Heaven at my disposal. That’s the way you’ve got to think.
Spending your life playing small doesn’t serve the world. Who does that feed, who does that educate, who does that serve? There’s nothing to be gained by shrinking. We were born to create, to shine. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. As we let our own light shine, we subconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
When Jesus was preparing his disciples to proclaim his message of grace, He knew the fears that lurked in their minds and He tried to convince them of their worth in the eyes of God. They hear Him say over and over that they should not be afraid. Jesus comforts His small band of followers, assuring them that they are known by a Father who watches over them. He challenges them to reach the entire world with the Gospel message.
Apart from the obvious things that any Christian would do in seeking the will of God, I would offer you three additional suggestions:
First, put your life on a schedule. Amateurs create when they feel inspired. Professionals create on a schedule of self-imposed deadlines. No single act will uncover more creative genius than forcing yourself to create consistently.
Second, believe in the potential you have in Christ to do great and mighty things; to always believe, “I’ve got what it takes to do this.”
Third, watch or read accurate biographies of creative people. I’ve studied the lives of many great preachers. But, also I’ve read biographies of Henry Ford, S.S. Kresge, Jack Eckerd, Sam Walton, Jack Welch, Milton Hershey, Richard Warren Sears, J C Penney, and dozens of others. I like to read about creative people. You don’t want to look like your heroes; you want to see like your heroes. I don’t want to walk in their shoes. I want to see through their eyes.
So why not decide today to try to awaken or reawaken your nature to create?
It’s time to get started because most great accomplishments were made after someone worked at it for at least 10 years. Let’s waste no more time. It’s time to start that ministry, to utilize that gift, to undertake that endeavor. It’s time to dust off your creative genius, stretch those wings, and access the joy that comes from remembering that with God anything is possible—if you are willing to let your light shine.
Dr. Worthington has been in the ministry over forty years and serves as President of Pathway Ministries.