Blog

(Jon Acuff is best known for his website Stuff Christians Like,  He's also an author and his latest book is called Quitter.)

We are the “I’m, but” generation.  I’m a ________ but want to be a _______.

What do you do in the gaps between where you are and where you want to be.

• Ignore the voices.  The internal voice is rarely positive. You may think someone is better or more creative than you.  Social media makes it easy for us to play the comparison game. Never compare your beginning to someone else’s middle.  A successful church down the street may have been around for years and you’re just starting out.  People always hear the question, "Who are you to do that?" The right question is “Who is God to do that?”  Is God big enough to do it through you? Yes.
• Face your fears. There are three big fears. 

1. Fear of starting. Also called the blank page fear. When you start the dragon of perfectionism raises its head. Perfect always appears close.  You’re about to finish a project, but think of one more thing you can do first. You have to murder perfectionism. 90% and sharing is better than 100% of nothing shared.  Your project doesn’t have any impact if it’s kept in a folder on your computer.  Aim for A- and let God finish the rest.
2. Fear of failure.  If you're going to take risks, do something big where there's still change even if it fails. Fail gloriously.
3. Fear of success. You're afraid to fail or to succeed. There too much pressure if you succeed.  We often call the wrong things a success.  A diamond is just a rock unless you think it has value. There are lots of people claiming to be diamonds on social media, but they’re not.  When you call the wrong things diamonds, you call the good things rocks.

• Have friends. It sounds like something a kid would say. When you work on things you lose sight of other stuff that’s more important. You forget your friendships or relationships. Be intentional about face-to-face relationships.

Read Exodus 31 and 36. God loves art.