Lies Christian Creatives BelieveSample

Lie #4: I'LL NEVER BE AS GOOD AS XYZ

It’s great to look up to forerunners in our creative field and draw inspiration from them, but comparing ourselves to others never ends well. A lie we often tell ourselves is that we will never be as good as someone else.

The problem with comparing ourselves with someone else is that we immediately assume that our gift isn’t unique and we have nothing to offer creatively that stands out from others. As great as others’ work can be, your distinctive potential married with your inimitable person (the matchless image of God imprinted on you) makes for creative gifting that is unforeseen by the world. Belittling your gift by comparing it to someone else can be dishonoring to God who empowered you with your gift in the first place.

Now, let’s be honest here—we all may be at different levels in our skill and aspiring to be better and more excellent at what you do isn’t wrong. In fact, that’s very important. Let’s never act like we’ve arrived as there’s always room to learn and grow. However, that’s not what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about feeling ashamed to express yourself artistically because you’re looking at someone else’s expression and feel that it doesn’t match up.

The lie the enemy wants you to believe is that you’ll never be as good as someone else because then you’ll never aim to be the best that you can be. His mission succeeds when you believe that you can’t match up to the talent around you and instead choose to do nothing or little with what you have.

It’s great to have role models in our skill area, but let’s not idolize them, be threatened by them, or feel insecure to work on our gift because of them.

Let’s Pray Together:

Lord, I’ve spent far too much time comparing myself to others. I repent of having feelings of envy, jealousy, and defeat when I’m around other creative people. I value what you’ve placed within me, and I want to strive to use it in the best way possible. Help me focus on my skill and work on being the best that I can be. In Jesus name, Amen.

A Creative Prompt:

I encourage you to do this today:

First, spend time thinking of some people you’ve compared yourself to or felt envious about. Take your focus off them for a minute now and think about your gift. What can you do to be your personal best? What steps can you take to commit to getting better at what you do?

Write down these steps and share them with someone you can be accountable to.