by Sarah Van Diest @SarahVanDiest

It’s criminal, I’ve decided, and something which ought be kept secret. No one should know and no one should discuss it. In fact, even admitting it is offensive.

But maybe I’ve got it all wrong.

My secret is shameful, though I’m not completely sure why. And you can clearly see my hesitation to confess it here on this page. I must truly think poorly of it. But, if I close my eyes and just let my fingers type, maybe I can get it out where you can see it:  I like reading my own work.

Eeeekk! There. I said it. Whew! Not an easy thing to admit. Ha!

I must believe it is “wrong” to like what I’ve made. Somewhere deep in my psyche, I adopted the notion that to enjoy one’s own creation is sin, as if the opposite is somehow more holy: I hate what I create therefore I am noble. What!?

Am I alone in this ridiculous notion? Does anyone out there know what I’m talking about? Along that long and winding road from birth to present day middle-age, I picked up this idea that if I like what I’ve made then I am egotistical, narcissistic, and arrogant. Does anyone out there relate?

But…

God created us and said of his own work, “It is very good.” God made stuff and he liked it. So why in the world do some of us have this crazy idea that if we make something we should say, “Oh, well, it’s not very good,” or “Yeah, it’s trash!” when secretly we love it, pet it, and call it Our Precious?

Is it bad to like something we have made? No, it’s not. In fact, we have every reason to like what we our work and find joy in it. When we express who we are through art, or any means that suits us, we are living out what we were created to do. This is living. This is loving the life the Father made for us. This is honoring him and bringing him glory by expressing who he made us to be. How can that be a bad thing?

I suppose it all goes awry when we begin to be proud and puffed up, as if we are superior to others, as if our contributions to the world are more important or better. There is no beauty in arrogance. And “bad” could be an appropriate label if we use our talents for nefarious reasons, but simply enjoying what we’ve made is how God designed the creative process. Believing it is bad to love one’s own work is perhaps one of the saddest things we can do. Isn’t that akin to believing we ourselvesare bad?

Enjoy what you make. Take joy from it and let that joy fuel more creative work. When you are able, share that joy with others. “…and they will see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” Matt. 5:16b, for we are not meant to hide who we are. We are to shine our light as a city on a hill, glorifying our Father by letting his creative powers be seen.

Let your light shine today and love what you create!

Educated as a teacher, Sarah taught school for nearly 20 years. As a young woman, she lived in China amid the rice paddies and water buffalo near Changsha, and then later taught English in Costa Rica for four years and raised her two sons. 

Sarah is married for the second time, the mother of 2 boys and the step-mother to 3 more. She and her husband, David, work together in their agency The Van Diest Literary Agency. Her full name is Sarah Ruth Gerke Van Diest. She’s 5’5” and cuts her hair when stress overtakes her. 

She is a freelance editor (including a New York Times and USA Today bestseller), blogger (The Write Conversation) and writer for hire. Her first book, God in the Dark, releases with NavPress in 2018. 

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