Creative Connection #0003: Acts of Service
And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’
The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
Mark 12:30-31 (NLT)
We’ve all heard the Bible verse, “Love thy neighbor as thyself” and another that states “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Now, I understand that. I’ve heard them both many times. Yet, somehow, I failed to realise that God rejoices over our small gestures of service to others, just as much as he rejoices over our large expressions of love and care. In recent times, I thought that service meant performing the latter. I thought that if I helped someone, that God wouldn’t appreciate it, unless it was followed by some form of pomp and pageantry.
With regards to art, I’ve always wanted to give to others in a way that was meaningful. There’s nothing wrong with that. However, lately, I’ve been trying to fit into spaces that I had no right being a part of. I enjoy creating illustrations, character designs, logo designs to name a few, however, rather than focusing on what I was naturally gifted at and felt called to pursue, I had been focusing on other paths that I neither enjoyed nor felt inclined to take part in. I believed that what I was giving to God and others was not enough, due to comparison. I saw what others were doing and I figured that if I wanted to be successful that I would have to do the same thing that they were doing. Clearly I was wrong. It has been a miserable cycle of confusion, frustration and failure.
I believe that whatever God has for His children will be enjoyable and suit them. Even if additional effort needs to be made, it will still be fulfilling. I’ll still try new things in an attempt to better serve God and my fellow neighbour but I no longer aim to be a carbon copy of someone else, in an attempt to be successful in an area that isn’t the right fit for me. Be authentic and strive to be the best version of yourself. The Bible says in Matthew 6:33, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need”. Seek Him and put Him first in all that you do and He will perfect what concerns you.