Years ago I taught an art masterpiece class to preschool and kindergarten kids. One of the creative pieces we did was to have the children draw a picture of their house. Each child was given a tall rectangular drawing of a box with windows. the children were instructed to fill in the details to make it their own.
What I didn't expect, and what I found fascinating was how much I discovered about each child by what and how they drew the features on their house. There was one little girl who was painfully shy. Her bangs shaded her eyes from the world and she rarely spoke a word. In her house picture she drew herself in the very top window. Outside the house she drew her mom and dad and sister and brothers. Everything was drawn in the same color, black. Another little girl with a bubbly, giddy personality had a house with every color imaginable. It was a kaleidoscope of colors. She had flowers, trees, birds, butterflies , white puffy clouds and a bright pink house with polka dots. The contrast between these two little girl's drawings was just as striking as the contrast in their demeanor and personalities.
Art therapists will tell you that children draw what they feel. It's a reflection of their heart condition. I learned about art therapy when my 2 year old daughter was in the hospital having surgery on her kidneys. An art therapist was sent in to assess my daughters pain level so they could properly medicate her. My daughter was given a doll and magic markers and told to draw on the doll. At two years old they were looking for "where" she drew on the doll, and "what" color she chose. Older kids she said, would draw faces with smiles or frowns, band-aids or scribbles on painful areas. I learned something interesting about art, it can be an expression or reflection of the heart.
Sometimes what we create is an outward expression of what is in our heart. But what if the reverse is true? What if what we create, becomes what resides in our heart? What we think, and what we speak is all creating. After-all, God created the universe and all the things in it just by speaking, and God is the ultimate creator.
How I chose to "create" in my mind, that is thoughts, imagination, beliefs will be what I express to the world, because they will take up residency in my heart. The same is true of what I chose to say. "out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." Luke 6:45 I can create an atmosphere of peace, love and harmony, or I can create sadness, anger and hurt.
We are creating all the time, usually by not even realizing it. I want to create on purpose, with purpose. I want my words, actions and thoughts to reflect the character of God. All the goodness, all the grace, all the joy overflowing. "Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life" Proverbs 4:23 This includes what we think about, care about and what we chose to do, or where we chose to go.
Your heart is so important to God, that the word heart is used in the bible almost one thousand times! He talks about it more than anything else. More than sin, more than obedience and even more than love. According to God, the condition of our heart will determine the conduct and quality of our life. Our heart is the supply source of life. Our ability or capacity to live through grace, love and faith, comes from within, not from our circumstances.
The beautiful thing is that the master creator designed your heart, a priceless masterpiece, unique to you and on purpose. When God says to guard your heart, its because it was always designed to be pure and good. That is why I believe he instructed us how to have a heart that reflects his original desire for us. "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent and praiseworthy, think about such things. Whatever you have learned or seen or heard from me, or seen in me, put it into practice. Philippians 4:8-9
We were all created in God's image. Part of that image is the ability to create. What an awesome gift God gave us. But it comes with responsibility. And that responsibility is to create from a heart that was designed to reflect God's character and desires. Art is creating, but more importantly creating is an art.