Be a Artist

“A artist is someone who sees a potential masterpiece in their mistakes.” 

One day I came up with this saying/quote, and I believe there is more to it than just one meaning. You don't have to be a literal artist to be a artist at heart. You don’t have to be skilled with a paint brush, pen, or pencil. You don’t have to paint a masterpiece on canvas, or sculpt a detailed sculpture. You don’t have to be born with the gift of being creative and artsy. To me, being a artist starts in the mind, how you think and how you react. It is our perspective and how we look at things. 

Everyone can be a artist.

A artist of paint and ink, when they make mistakes (because we know they do), do they throw their hands in the air and give up? No. They either try again, or change their train of thought and turn their mistake in to something entirely different, and most of the time it turns out way grander than the original plan. 

Is it tempting to throw your hands up in the air and quit when your art isn’t turning out right, or when you can’t erase your mistake?  I know it is, because I’ve been there. I make mistakes all the time in my hand lettering and doodles. Sometimes I will give up, thinking that I am not good enough of a artist, or that it didn’t turn out like the picture I was going off of. Then other times, I will persevere through my mistake and sure, it might not turn out like I had wanted it to, but now I have created something that is one of a kind. Something different and unique. 

A real artist doesn’t give up on their creative gift, they try and try if they can’t get it the first time around. But what if this artist is working on a project and gets frustrated, who do they turn to for help? They ask someone who knows how to do what they are working on. They find a teacher who can show them how. Someone who has already done what they are trying to doing. 

I remember when I was really little, I liked to color, but I had the hardest time staying in the lines! I would scribble and scribble until the page was filled with crayon marks, then I would get frustrated when my picture did not look like the outlined horse (most of the time I colored horses) in the background. So you know what I did? I took my coloring page, full of mistakes, to my big sister.  I really don’t know what she did, but she would fix it! She turned my mistakes into a masterpiece. Big sister to the rescue!

What about someone who has no artsy skills at all, how can I say that everyone can be a artist? 

Because you can be a artist at heart, and in your mind. Being a artist at heart is a choice. You have to choose to think of things a certain way. Not everyone has the gift of creating art, but everyone does have a choice to make in how they handle their mistakes. A artist at heart would say, “Yes, I made a mistake, BUT I see a potential masterpiece in my mistake.” We are all sinners and are prone to mistakes, but how we deal with them is what really matters. 

Is it tempting to throw your hands up in the air and quit when you make a mistake and things are not going as planned? Yes, oh YES it is! And sometimes we will fall into that trap and give up, thinking that we are not good enough, or that it was not supposed to turn out like it did. But what if “it didn’t turn out like the picture” on purpose? What if there is a reason your mistake happened the way it did? Only God knows, because His’s plan is to turn your mistakes into a masterpiece.

A real artist at heart doesn't give up when they make a mistake, they try and try again to make it right. Even if it takes 70x7 times of forgiving, of asking forgiveness. It will take perseverance, never giving up. It takes time, don’t expect your mistakes to vanish into thin air. It takes having a new perspective. We might not be able to erase our mistakes, but we can choose to see the potential masterpiece in them.

We can’t do this on our own, we need help. Lets ask Someone who knows how to forgive. Our Teacher is Jesus Christ, because He has been through what we are going through. He knows. Jesus came to this earth to die for our sins. He is spotless, clean from sin, but He burdened our sin and died for us so that we can have life. So that we can choose this avenue He has opened up for us. What amazing love! We are not worthy, but we are chosen. 

So, lets strive to learn from our mistakes, and take them to the Teacher who can show us how to see a potential masterpiece in them. Lets turn to God and ask Him to help us forgive and repent. Whether a artist of paint and ink or a artist at heart, a artist is someone who sees a potential masterpiece in their mistakes. 

Matthew 18:21,22

“Then Peter came to Him and said, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’

Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.’ ”

Ephesians 4:32

“And be kind to one another tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”

Ephesians 1:7

“In Him we have redemption though His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.”

Romans 3:23

“For we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

1 Peter 2:9

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;”

God will turn our mistakes into masterpieces if we let Him. Has God ever changed one of your mistakes into something way grander than the original plan? What kinds of masterpieces is God painting in your life? Lets talk in the comments!