All of us have been created, and have the capacity, to dream and to accomplish great things.

Jeremiah 29:11 says

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” NIV

Even though many of us know these words by heart, they somehow fail to resonate in the way we live. We see other people moving forward in accomplishing their dreams, while we are still stuck trying to gain the courage to try.

Oftentimes, we can find ourselves even shrinking back from believing that we have permission to move forward in accomplishing our dreams.

Why?

The inner voice of critiquing shame speaks to us that we are not enough, and unworthy of accomplishing our dreams. This can lead us to give up before we even get started.

If we want to be creative, we must crush the limiting, perfectionistic, voice of fear.

Here are 2 effective ways to do it:

1. Identify the Voice of Fear

Let’s face it, listening to the voice of fear, and living constrained by its control, will leave us powerless and defeated.

Many people don’t even know that they are listening to these voices because they have become so familiar. All they know is that life has become pointless, predictable, and mundane.

This downward spiral starts in how we think about ourselves, which can be insidiously difficult to identify.

The best way to identify the voice of fear is to listen to the truth of God’s Word, and see if what you are hearing matches.

2. Take the Voice of Fear Captive

If we want to be creative, we must become aware of whether or not our thoughts are producing life or death.

Thoughts, like random bullets, can puncture our dreams and leave them lifeless on the ground of potential possibilities.

When we have not learned to take every thought captive, the enemy’s voice of fear and shame can easily set up target practice in our imagination (2 Cor. 10:5).

If we want to fulfill the creative call that God has on our lives, we have to weed out the negative thoughts we speak against ourselves every day by the roots.

3 Tips on Killing Negative Thoughts

1. Saturate With Supernatural Soaking

“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” 2 Cor. 10:4

I live in Redding, California where the ground is harder than concrete. If you want to weed effectively, you better go rent a jackhammer. I was so frustrated that I just gave up.

Amazingly, after it had rained relentlessly for two weeks straight, the ground became soft as jello, and I picked out the weeds with ease.

If you want to get the negative critic out of your thoughts, then soak the soil of your mind with the water of life from above.

Here are some good soil soakers:

Turn on some worship music that moves you to encounter God’s love
Go out in nature and enjoy the beauty of God’s creativity
Read the Bible, an inspirational book, or listen to a podcast
Surround yourself with others who encourage you to dream.

2. Apply the Weed Spray of Truth

“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God…” 2 Cor. 10:5

A good way to destroy the lies we have come to believe is to replace them with the truth.

Bill Johnson says that we should never allow a thought to ruminate in us that has not originated in the heart of God.

Here’s how it works for me:

When I hear my inner negative critic voice trying to defeat my creative dream, I find out what lie I am partnering with and replace it with the truth, and then do it.

For instance, I used to believe that I was not a writer, which prevented me from taking myself seriously as a writer. Instead of being defeated by the voice of fear and rejection, however, I would daily force myself to write, while thanking God that He had given me a passion to write, and envisioning myself being introduced as a writer.

I ask God to reveal to me the way He sees me, and what He says about me.
I say what He says, out loud to myself, which counters the agreement of the curse, and it’s negative affect.

The inner negative voice many times comes from a spirit of perfectionism, which makes us afraid to make a mistake.

Every time I feel like I have fallen short, I remind myself that God doesn’t want me to strive or beat myself up. Rather, He wants me to enjoy my process, and grow in excellence.

3. Add Miracle Grow in the Soil

In the United States, we have what is called “miracle grow” which makes plants grow exponentially.

As we cultivate our creativity, we must be ever mindful that growing is a process, and that we all grow at different rates, and in our own ways.

I want to encourage you to celebrate and thank God every time you stop and change the way you think about yourself. This mind-set of thanking God for the little changes you make will produce incredible fruit in your life.

My husband, Kevin, always says, “Thankfulness prepares the way for breakthrough.”

Many of us may not have the most ideal situations or circumstances to grow, but we do have the power to bless the seed inside of us by thanking God for what He is doing in us and through us in our creative expressions.

That’s how we can crush the voice that says we cannot create, and unleash us into our creative destiny.

I can’t wait to hear about what will be happening in your life tomorrow, in a week, a month, and then in a year because you are silencing the inner-critic!

If this helped you or if you liked this blog let me know in the comments below!