(The albatross) circled three times round the mast and then perched for an instant on the crest of the gilded dragon at the prow.
It called out in a strong sweet voice what seemed to be words though no one understood them…no one except Lucy knew that as it circled the mast it had whispered to her, “Courage, dear heart,” and the voice, she felt sure, was Aslan’s.” -C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The name for this series is taken from this scene in one of the Narnia books by C.S. Lewis.
I chose the name, ‘Courage, Dear Heart’ because maybe you feel like Lucy—lost in a storm of other people’s opinions. What will they think if they see you “trying hard” at something creative? What will they say if they found out you’re investing time, energy and money into honing your gifts? You’re probably reading this right now and picturing several people in your head already.
This is the second post in this new series. You can read the first one by clicking here.
I get it. I’ve been there. Fear of others misunderstanding me or believing things about me that aren’t true has been something I’ve had to deal with in a visceral way over the past couple years.
It’s crippling when you have an idea or dream or burden that God has laid on your heart and yet, the idea of actually taking action on it has your brain cluttered with thoughts like:
“What are they going to think of me doing (fill in the blank)?”
“They will judge me, misunderstand me or find a way to be offended.”
“My friends and family will roll their eyes at what I create.”
“I have a few particular people whose judgment or ridicule I fear.”
“I don’t want it to be a flop. Once I put it out there, they’ll know I’m trying to do it and see if it isn’t successful.”
If thoughts like these sound familiar, this post was written for you.
You weren’t created to let fear of other’s opinions rule your life. You weren’t created to live in shame.
You were created to glorify God with how you live your life. Even when people don’t “get it.”
Now, does this mean you’re free to act or say or do whatever you want as long as you tell everyone you’re ‘bringing honor to the Lord’? Of course not.
Some of the most traumatic and relationally devastating things I’ve walked through in my life happened under the guise of someone telling everyone they were honoring the Lord while harming me and my family. Their actions couldn’t have been further from what the Bible actually says honors God but that didn’t stop them from trying to weaponize truth for their own devices.
We can all be guilty of doing this on large and small scales. But how to avoid it? By holding ourselves accountable to this truth: the choices we make to glorify God can only do so as much as they are submitted to the authority of Scripture.
This includes what we spend our time doing, where we choose to invest our energy, and the boundaries we establish.
So, maybe you’re wondering: what exactly are healthy boundaries?
You could ask that question to five different people and get five different answers.
And, of course, whatever I share about them here can’t possibly cover all the nuances that go into establishing them.
For the sake of time and simplicity, this post is going to be about the boundaries you can set around your creativity; however you choose to let it manifest in your life.
The goals of the 2nd post of this series:
To give you…
a view of healthy boundaries through the lens of Scripture so you can create with greater confidence.
practical steps for how to establish and uphold healthy boundaries with grace so you can exist with less stress and more freedom.
boldness in your role in God’s kingdom (even when “that person” doesn’t approve) so you can stop letting the opinions of others dictate your decisions.
The bad news: you can’t control how people will react to what you do.
The good news: you can seek God’s guidance and put up boundaries (whether you ever end up communicating them or not) that free you from living trapped by those reactions.
That’s what this post is about.
Let’s get into it.