Most of my adult life I have struggled with the word “creative” and the way it is used to describe our gifts and talents. Our culture has taken the word creativity drawn a box around it and many of us have allowed it to be a label on our life. You are either “creative” or “not creative”. To be quite honest, for fifteen years I struggled with where I belonged because I didn’t have the “gifts or talents” that most creatives had. I wanted to be creative and I wanted that title, but I can’t draw, I can’t paint, I do not like my handwriting, I can’t sing, I’m not a musician, and I could go on, but I think you understand where I’m going.
I began to ask God, “what am I really good at? Where’s my sweet spot? Am I just trying to be creative?” These questions have led me on a journey that has made me confident in who I was created to be.
So, how do you label yourself? Are you confident and say, “Yes, I’m creative!” Or would you answer, “I’m definitely not creative!” Maybe your answer is similar to mine, “I’m creative with some things, but not all things… it just depends.” No matter how you answered, keep reading…
You are either confident, believed a lie, or just confused, but I want you to know; YOU ARE CREATIVE!
We are ALL Creative. Think about it this way. The God of the universe created each and every one of us in His image, unique, and designed for a specific purpose. There are no two people who hold the same DNA or thumbprint.
It begins in Genesis. Genesis 1:27, reads; “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
To create means; to cause to come into being, as something unique that would not naturally evolve or that is not made by ordinary processes.
When God created you, he didn’t create you to be ordinary, he created you for a specific purpose and design. When you begin to pursue your gifts and talents with this understanding, you become creative; you are not using those gifts naturally, but instead you are developing something unique, not ordinary.
If you answered the question very confident saying, “I am creative!” This does not mean you have a gift of creativity. It means you know exactly what your gifts are and you are allowing God to use you creatively in those gifts.
Maybe, you answered the question and said, “Not me, I’m definitely not creative!”. I hope you are still reading, because I want you to know YOU ARE CREATIVE!. You just accepted the label that reads the opposite because your gifts didn’t match the description that our culture has put on the word creative.
And, there are those of you that answered the question just like me. “It depends, maybe, I’m not sure, I’m creative in some areas”. Let me encourage you to be confident in the areas that you are creative. That is where your gifts and passions are and that is where you will find your purpose in life. Right in the middle of that creativity.
Are you administrative? Be a creative problem solver! Are you an accountant? Creatively put numbers together to make the budget work. Maybe you are a history teacher. So uncreative, right? Wrong. If you want me to learn history, you are going to have to teach it to me in a creative way. I know you can, you just have to believe that you can! Whatever your gifts are, that is where your creativity is. You just have to become confident in your creativity and allow God to develop your gift in a creative way.
Today, I lead a Creative Arts department and it’s not because I am a musician. My gifts are administration and leadership. I love for things to look good, I’m A.D.D., and I think my competitive spirit helps me to want to learn new things. When I began to develop the creative side of my gifts and talents, that is when I became confident and began to live my life with purpose.
The God of the universe created you, YOU ARE CREATIVE. Now, go live your life with purpose!