Taking Yourself Seriously as a Christian Artist

Hey there, my friend, and welcome to my first blog post in 2020. Can you believe it? Oh my gosh. We made it. I'm really glad that you're here and I'm so excited about all that this year has for you, for me, for everybody that's walking in God's Kingdom.

It's going to be an incredible year and I just wanted to start off this year with a little series. You're going to be noticing “a thread” moving through the blog posts and podcast this January. I’m really trying to help you get started, get on the right path and get on a focused on everything that God has for you.

In this post, I really want to jump into this whole concept of taking yourself seriously as a Christian artist and asking yourself, “is this a year I’m finally going to do that thing I’ve been talking about or am I going to keep going around the same old bush, doing the same old thing, expecting different results?” 

You know, a lot of artists do just that… talk and hope but never act.

I've done that in different seasons of my life too. I would wonder why I was getting the same results I'd been getting and yet my actions didn't change. It can be frustrating.

I know you this to be the year that you start taking yourself seriously and really embracing everything God has for you as a Christian artist.  So in this blog post, I've got a few tips I hope are going to be helpful in that regard. 

Think about it. If everybody wants different results and if everybody wants to take themselves seriously, living the life that God called them to live - that abundant, incredible creative flow, Kingdom-oriented, abundance, experiencing life - then why aren't they doing it? Why are they able to live that life, execute on those dreams and really take themselves seriously?
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Well, there are several reasons. This isn't an exhaustive list, but let's start with this one: Some artists just don't believe they can. 

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Some Christian Artists Don’t Believe They Can

Maybe they've been told their whole life, “you can't do it, you're not good enough, you're not this enough, you're not that enough.” They simply have a belief system - a core belief - that they can't do it.

Maybe they have never done something significant in the past. Maybe they've tried things and failed. And maybe that failure has paralyzed them to the point where they're just unable to move forward. 
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Maybe you can relate to that, too. I know a lot of Christian artists do.

Some Artists Don’t Think They Are Worthy

Many others struggle with another common roadblock, not believing they're worthy to succeed. Think about that for a second. Maybe it's the way they grew up, the relationships that they've had, or the experiences they've walked through in their life. Maybe they struggle with their thoughts about God and what humility, or even pride is supposed to look like as a Christian. It can be any number of things.
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Thoughts and fears like these can lead this person to reject taking any credit for anything in their life and worse yet, not wanting to enjoy anything in their lives either. Unfortunately, they have this underlying lie that's churning inside of them all the time saying, “You’re not worthy to succeed. You're not supposed to succeed. You're supposed to let everybody else go first.” Ultimately, the person who listens to and believes this lie ends up completely paralyzed emotionally, spiritually and creatively.

Many Christians Don’t Understand How Change Happens

Thirdly, there's a lot of artists out there that believe a lie about how change is supposed to happen in their life. I teach a lot about this concept in my books and mentoring program and call it “mailbox mentality”. You know how this works. We wait, hope and beg (because that seems spiritual) and then just sit back and tell God, "Okay, you do it. I'm waiting on you." And when it doesn’t happen in our timing, we switch to another common strategy that includes working, sweating and striving on our own.
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You know what, my friend, that's not how the Kingdom works. We align with God’s Kingdom when we embrace who God's called us to be and step out in faith by cooperating and co-laboring with the Holy Spirit. If you have a fundamental misunderstanding about how change happens - that somehow it's all up to God and has nothing to do with you - then you're going to be waiting a long time and probably be very frustrated.

It’s Not About You… It’s About the Kingdom

Finally, many Christian artists struggle with is the idea of taking themselves seriously and consequently are never able to make forward progress in their life. A lot of artists in this place feel completely alone in their church, in their family, and maybe even in their local area. They don't know anybody else that understands what it means to be an artist, much less be an artist who loves Jesus and is intent upon pursuing the power of the Kingdom in their life. That “aloneness” can feel overwhelming, stifling and paralyzing.

But here’s the good news! Taking yourself seriously isn’t about you at all! It’s about what God’s put inside you! It’s about His Kingdom flowing through you. As you do that, your ability to accept yourself and God’s design on your life increases. You start to step into a divine flow!
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For many artists - maybe even you - that's why you're reading this post today. You want to take God’s call on your life seriously and you want that flow.  Not only that, but you want to be a part of a community of other artists who really “get” you and understand what it means to be an artist, to love Jesus, and to pursue everything God has for you. 

The great news is that you’re in the right place and 2020 can be YOUR year!  2020 (and this new decade) can absolutely be the time that you start to take yourself seriously and pursue everything that God has for you. 

Regardless of what you’ve believed in the past, this is a new year! The very fact that you're reading this post right now proves that you want everything that God has for you as an artist and that is so exciting.

I also believe it proves God set you up. How you might ask? 

You see, God's got something incredible for you. He ordered your steps to be reading this at this time, and you're here by divine appointment. The only thing you have to do is say “yes” and start walking.

You Are Not Alone!

Here's my promise to you.
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If you'll walk with me this year, pursue God and pursue your calling as an artist this year I promise, you're going to start to see some incredible breakthrough in your life. Your story is going to change, big time!

How do I know? Because I hear it all the time from artists who are in my Created to Thrive Artist Mentoring Program or listen to the podcast or read my books. Artists that start taking life seriously. Artists who are no longer living on autopilot, but have really started pursuing the Kingdom and their calling as an artist.

Make 2020 your breakthrough year! I’ll be here every step of the way and I can't wait to hear your story!

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