Cultivate Your Creativity

My wife will tell you one of the reasons she fell in love with me is because of my cooking.  No joke.  One of our first dates was to cook dinner together at her house.  She had not had the opportunity to do some shopping; therefore, her pantry was empty with the exception of a few ingredients.  I, out to prove myself, was able to cultivate some creativity and produce an awesome chicken pot pie.  I had won her heart.

If you can cultivate creativity you can prevent your youth ministry from growing stale.  With the world changing constantly around us it’s important to know how to reach teenagers in new ways.  That might mean creating new mediums to deliver the Gospel. It could also mean looking at different ways of reaching out to community.  Creativity is a huge part of what you do.  To cultivate creativity, and grow disciples be sure to:  

• Embrace What You Do Have: Do not limit your creativity by complaining about what you don’t have.  Embrace what you’ve been given and see it as an opportunity.  If it’s a small budget, be thankful you have one.  If you share space collaborate with other people how to best maximize it.   Utilize what you do have and see the limits as an opportunity.

• Capture Ideas: To cultivate creativity you need to make sure you are building a bank of ideas.  That means writing things down in a notebook.  Pinning, sharing and tweeting through social media so that you can refer to it later.  You might not know in what way you are going to use the idea or information; therefore, let it sit.  Ideas need to mature, so before you pass over it, write it down and let it grow.

• Ask God For Guidance: Allow God to cultivate your creativity by spending time listening to Him.  Prayer is so important in the creative process, because it brings God into the equation.  If you are trying to figure out what you want to say in a message, sit in scripture.  If you are trying to brainstorm an idea, walk with God in nature.  Do not close Him out of the process.

Building your creativity is a habit that takes work, perseverance and commitment. It doesn’t always come so easy.  There will be moments when cultivating creativity feels like a chore.  But, then there are those moments when you just can’t stop.  Embrace what you have, capture what’s in front of you and allow God to show you what He can do through you.

What other ways do you cultivate your creativity?