Artists have egos.

We can’t really get around it for the most part. Even artists that are really good at hiding their egos still have them. As an artist, I often deal with needing the affirmation of man ascribing value to me as both a person and musician.

It doesn’t just end with artists, though. I’m pretty sure this is universal. Honestly, I believe this is the result of a God-given need that He has deeply implanted in people for His glory.

Back in the early 2000’s there was a song by Plumb called “God-shaped Hole” that said it like this, “There’s a God-shaped hole in all of us… It’s a void only He can fill.”

God has uniquely designed people with a need for approval. Just like any desire He gives us, our sin nature distorts it so much that we will try anything but Him to fill the hole. We look to appease the nagging need by climbing the corporate ladder, keeping up with the Joneses, or reaching for the forbidden next shelf of sexual experiences. We numb it with porn, overeating and drunkenness. As artists and even pastors specifically, we are often tempted to try to pour ourselves into our work to gain a platform of people saying, “Attaboy.”

But the nagging continues and we remain unfulfilled and unaffirmed. Because we are still pursuing an elusive affirmation until it kills us, rather than running to the affirmation that aggressively pursued us until it was killed.

Maybe this sounds over-simplified, but Jesus is really the only affirmation we need. His work is infinitely more than adequate.

Do you ever stop and stand in awe of the fact that the one true almighty God of the universe died for you? You are His image bearer (a huge affirmation in itself), but you were marred by sin and separated from Him. So He gave all on a cross to display his glory, mercy and justice, and to demonstrate His intense love for people… for you. There is no greater affirmation of your value. Try and try as you may, you’re gonna be out of luck if you look for it elsewhere.

Jesus created us with this need to drive us back to the cross in our times of temptation and to look to Him in every moment. So fight sin with all your might and make this mantra the atom bomb in your arsenal:

“I will never be more loved, valued, accepted and affirmed than I am in Christ.”