How Is Creativity Subdued by Negative Thinking?

Creativity can be kept in submission through repressive feelings of fear and anxiety. Negative thinking will strip away what it takes to risk failure while pursuing success. Matthew 25:25 points out how fear predetermined failure for someone who refused to use his knowledge and creativity to bring him success. "I was afraid, so I went off and hid your money in the ground..."

My dad commented on how negative thinking had prevented him from purchasing property that had quadrupled in value almost immediately. Negative thinking comprised of “what if,” permitted a good investment to slip away.

God never intended for us to act on every potential, but to use our intelligence and creative abilities to assess an opportunity. Courage and confidence linked to creative investigations are necessary core ingredients for grasping a future opportunity. Faith and trust anchored in the Lord Jesus Christ are foundational for creativity.  

_________ 

You must be very careful not to forget the things you have seen God do for you. Keep reminding yourself, and tell your children and grandchildren as well. 

~Deuteronomy 4:9 Contemporary English Version 

________

Subscribe to the Attitudes Answers podcast on your favorite podcast platform to hear this and other 2-minute features 3 days every week.

Is It Possible to Be Too Cautious?

Do you think of yourself as being creative? Jesus’ thoughts on creativity and accountability are revealed in his Parable of the Talents. An employer entrusted $10,000 to an employee, $5,000 to another and $1,000 to someone else. The first two doubled their investments, but the third refused to trust his marketplace skills. He was promptly terminated.

The fired employee was accused of being too cautious, lazy, and wicked. Jesus’ parable defines accountability. What has been entrusted into your care intellectually, physically, and spiritually are gifts to be invested in God’s kingdom here on earth.

Creativity motivates you to seek the limits of your giftedness. God’s gift to each believer is faith and trust, which enable you to push out from what is known, to discover opportunities to serve Jesus Christ in new and exciting ways. 

So stay alert and be ready.

_________                                                  

Be careful, then, how your live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 

~Ephesians 5:15-16 New International Version 

_________

Subscribe to the Attitudes Answers podcast on your favorite podcast platform to hear this and other 2-minute features 3 days every week.

How Are Creativity and Accountability Linked Together?

If someone were to ask, what does it means to be creative, how would you respond? Being creative summons a wide range of possible expressions. Children are judged to be creative who use their imagination to express ideas and those who duplicate other’s achievements.

Another question to ask is what role does accountability play in bringing creativity to fruition? Vincent Van Gough believed his art would become the wave of the future for generations of new artists.

If creativity is to come to fruition it must be bonded to accountability. Remember the man who approached Jesus with the question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” He was wealthy and religious, yet bored and lost. He needed a special challenge but was unwilling to be accountable to  Jesus’ recommendation. True creativity often requires sacrifice, but God’s abundant benefits more than compensate for what is given up.                                                                                         

_________ 

Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. 

~Matthew 5:23-24 New International Version 

________

Subscribe to the Attitudes Answers podcast on your favorite podcast platform to hear this and other 2-minute features 3 days every week.

What Makes Self-care Seem So Difficult?

Human nature dictates we care for others and especially that we care for ourselves as long as we can do so. Taking care of yourself during grief and sorrow or following a traumatic event is difficult because the tendency to be narrowly focused shapes your behavior.

During very stressful moments the impulse to make important life decisions should be avoided since a significant change adds to stress levels by creating more anxiety and fear. Some changes are unavoidable, so consulting with trusted friends and family can be reassuring.

Taking ownership for self-care is important. Being accountable may involve asking for help, especially when feeling overwhelmed by too many choices and decisions. Never hesitate to seek the comfort and fellowship of the Lord God even if you blame him for what you are experiencing. God loves you with an unfailing love that will not fade or be diminished by your grief and sorrow. 

                           

___________ 

How great is God’s love for all who worship him? Greater than the distance between heaven and earth! How far has the Lord taken our sins from us? Farther than the distance from east to west! ... With all my heart I praise the Lord. 

~Psalm 103:11-12, 22b Contemporary English Version 

__________

Subscribe to the Attitudes Answers podcast on your favorite podcast platform to hear this and other 2-minute features 3 days every week.

 

How Does Seeking Forgiveness Promote Self-care?

Self-care is a normal but often a neglected task in life. Self-neglect or self-abuse often begins in adolescence through sleep deprivation and numerous experimentations including self-harm. Habits formed during these years may become permanent.

David, king of Israel and man of faith, pleaded with God to forgive him for the sins of his youth. For David, pursuing forgiveness was crucial to self-care. Courage is required when seeking forgiveness because it demands being honest and vulnerable.

Offering forgiveness to a person who has wounded your heart and pride demonstrates ownership and self-care. Otherwise your heart will become corrupt with resentment, even hatred, which has the power to damage your mind, body, and spirit. God’s word reminds us if we forgive others we are in a position to receive God’s healing forgiveness, which is the ultimate in self-care.                        

_________ 

You must be merciful, as your Heavenly Father is merciful. Don’t judge other people and you will not be judged yourself. Don’t condemn [others] and you will not be condemned. Forgive others and you will be forgiven.  

~Luke 6:37 Phillips – New Testament in Modern English 

________

Subscribe to the Attitudes Answers podcast on your favorite podcast platform to hear this and other 2-minute features 3 days every week.

How Do We Demonstrate Self-care?

Becoming older cannot be avoided. When the first signs of losing the elegance of youth are noticed, an all-out effort may be set in motion to camouflage that reality. When her daughter entered adolescence, her mother began copying her daughter’s choice for clothes.

Negotiating mid-life begins in the mid-to-late thirties and can cause grief, as the reality of losing young adulthood cannot be denied. Trying to avoid this transition is similar to denying the sorrow of a significant loss.

Taking ownership of aging is being accountable for taking care of yourself in a new way. Self-care involves paying attention to your body and mind. Aging has the potential for creating anxiety, but this is not God’s intention. 

When you put your hope and trust in God’s care for you, hope springs eternal as an anchor to hold you firm while allocating to you courage to face the changes life presents. May God bless you.

_________ 

You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body. You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculped from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you. The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day. 

~Psalm 139:15-16 The Message 

________

Subscribe to the Attitudes Answers podcast on your favorite podcast platform to hear this and other 2-minute features 3 days every week.

How Does Being Accountable for Grief Aid in Healing?

Collin Parks, noted British psychiatrist and author, said grief is the price we pay for loving and being loved. This is fundamental to bonding so relationships can last a lifetime. If bonding is severed, we emotionally go through deep sorrow and grief.

When I was a child, one of our cows gave birth to a calf which I claimed for my own. It became so tame and gentle it would follow me when I was at the barn or out in the pasture. One morning my dad told me the calf had died from pneumonia. 

Throughout life, we experience a series of losses. Coming to grips with the reality of grief means it’s imperative to assume ownership of the sorrow that’s left in its wake. Healing begins by being accountable to the grief, which means permitting God to touch your heart with his presence until healing and a return to normal life have taken place. 

Jesus will be with you as you make this journey.

_________

The Lord is close to those whose hearts are breaking; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. A good person may have many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time. 

~Psalm 34:18-19 The Living Bible/New International Version 

_________

Subscribe to the Attitudes Answers podcast on your favorite podcast platform to hear this and other 2-minute features 3 days every week.