The Thriving Christian Artist

When Failure Makes You Question Your Creative Calling

• Matt Tommey: Artist, Best-Selling Author, Speaker, Entrepreneur and Artist Mentor

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One honest mistake can feel like a verdict on your calling. We’ve been there—rejected shows, failed pieces, spirals of self-doubt—and we know how quickly disappointment tries to rewrite your identity. Today we walk through a clear, grace-filled path to recover emotionally and spiritually after creative setbacks, so you can return to the studio lighter, wiser, and free.

We start by naming how disappointment opens the door to lies and why artists are uniquely vulnerable when work feels personal. Then we draw a sharp line between conviction and condemnation: conviction invites growth and intimacy, while condemnation sentences you to shame. From there, we share a practical five-step process you can use any time things go sideways: separate facts from identity, expose condemnation out loud, re-anchor yourself in the truth of who you are in Christ, let the situation teach instead of torment, and take one simple step in the opposite spirit—whether that’s a sketch, an hour in the studio, or an honest conversation. Along the way, Matt shares a recent misstep from his own practice and how he stopped the spiral by returning to scripture, prayer, and small, faithful action.

You’ll also join us in a guided moment of prayer to hear God’s heart for you and ask for specific wisdom for your next step. We close by inviting testimony and community, because sharing your story breaks isolation and strengthens others to believe the truth. If you’re tired of letting one bad day redefine your worth, this conversation will help you build creative resilience, renew your mind, and create from God’s pleasure—not for it.

If this resonated, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with an artist who needs freedom today. Want deeper support? Explore our Foundations Course for Christian artists and start rebuilding on solid ground.

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SPEAKER_00:

Hey, have you ever had one thing go wrong in your art or in your life as an artist and it just completely wrecked you emotionally? Maybe, maybe you got rejected from that art show that you wanted so badly to get in, or that project you've been working on for so long didn't work out, or maybe you just made an honest mistake that you wished that you could undo. And suddenly, in that moment, it's not about the art anymore. All of a sudden you start questioning yourself and your calling as an artist and your confidence just goes, you know, way down. You start hearing thoughts like, I should have been further along, or how could I have made that mistake, or I should be better than this, or I must have missed God, or maybe I'm not even supposed to be an artist, and this is a waste of time. And before you know it, listen, you're just stuck. And not for a day, but sometimes for weeks and even for months. Listen, in that moment, 100%, that is not about the situation at hand. It's absolutely an attack on your identity as an artist. And in today's video, I'm going to show you how you can start spiritually and emotionally recovering after a setback like that. So you can shake off condemnation, strengthen your identity in Christ, and start moving forward wiser instead of wounded. So let's jump in. Well, hey, my friend, I'm Matt Tommy, and I help Christian artists every week, right here on this channel, renew their minds, walk confidently in their God-given calling, and build lives and art practices that actually thrive. Hey, if that sounds like you, be sure to hit the subscribe button, ring the bell, and let me know in the comments if you've ever struggled to bounce back after a setback like this. I know I have, and I'm going to be sharing that story today. Listen, if you have, you're not alone because there's something I've learned after almost 20 years of mentoring artists all over the world. See, the enemy rarely attacks you when things are going great. He waits for moments of disappointment and disillusionment because disappointment lowers your defenses. And that's when the lies start. He starts saying things to you and whispering in your mind, like, you caused this, and this proves you're not supposed to be an artist, and God expected more from you, and you're behind and you're never gonna make it. And all of a sudden, you notice this pattern that starts happening, right? See, the enemy doesn't just point out the problem at hand, he actually starts assigning a verdict. And the verdict is always about you, right? You're not enough, you're not this, you're not that. It's not about just what happened. I can think of so many times in my life that this happened. And in fact, just recently, the kind of the impetus for this video, I made an honest mistake in my art process. And when I found out, I immediately started dealing with all these thoughts. Of you should have known better, and how could you have done this? And this is gonna ruin everything, and what will people think? And it just started spiraling out of control, just like, wow, just crazy. Listen, thankfully, I've become wise to the enemy's strategies, and I recognize it pretty quickly. But there's been so many times in my life that I didn't. And that one situation turned into days, if not weeks, of self-doubt and then into depression, and then trying to make myself feel better with unhealthy coping mechanism, which turns into shame and fear and condemnation and the need to control it, and it just completely shuts me down. And that cycle continues over and over and over. Listen, I don't know if you've ever been through anything like that as an artist, but it's absolutely debilitating. And trust me, I know this it is not God's plan for your life as an artist. But see, here's what I've learned: Jesus told us in his word that in this world we're gonna have trouble. And so trouble is not evidence that you've missed God or that you're a bad person or that, you know, your life as an artist is over. Trouble is a part of being formed into the image of Christ and into the person that God created you to be. See, scripture is really clear on this. You know, the Bible says there's therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And I've just learned over the years, you know, real Holy Spirit-led conviction, it draws you closer to God, not pushes you away. That's that's what condemnation does. Conviction says, hey, there's an issue, but let's grow through it. But condemnation says you are done. It's over, you'll never measure up. And listen, artists are especially vulnerable in these kinds of situations because our work is not just something we do on the side, it's personal. See, you got to realize your art can fail, you can have a mistake, but that doesn't mean that you are a failure. Your identity is not on trial. It shouldn't be on trial every time something goes wrong in your life. That doesn't mean that God's disappointed in you, that it's all over. So you got to start realizing he's committed to you. You're his son, you're his daughter, he's not going anywhere. And knowing that changes everything. So, how do we actually recover in a healthy way from these types of situations without pretending that it didn't hurt, but also without letting us, you know, letting it take us out as well. Well, listen, I want to give you a simple, repeatable, I think, biblical process that you can use every time that life or or something in your art kind of knocks you sideways. And the first thing is you really got to understand how to separate facts from your identity in Christ. See, when a situation arises, instead of saying I'm a bad person or thinking that this is all about you and your shortcomings or where you didn't measure up, just admit, hey, something in this situation went wrong. Something didn't go the way that I expected. That that's not identity, that's just the facts. But just because something went wrong, listen, doesn't mean that you're a bad person or that it's all over for you as an artist. That's really, really, really important for you to get. One describes an event, and the other is a part of forming your identity. You never, ever, ever want to let a moment in time or a situation determine what you believe about yourself, your identity. Listen, as believers, only Jesus can do that. Only his word determines who we are because everything else is shifting sand. And then, second, once you've done that, you know, just identified the facts, you need to call condemnation what it is. And that's a liar. See, condemnation loses its power when it gets exposed. So instead of allowing, you know, the enemy to just constantly keep on lying to you about the situation and coming into agreement with that lie so that it gets lodged in your heart and and in your mind, just stop in that moment and just say out loud, say, listen, that voice is not from God. I'm not agreeing with that. See, your silence when you just don't say anything, that that's like agreement. You're just letting that seed get planted. But declaring God's truth out of your mouth breaks that cycle of condemnation. And then third, you got to re-anchor yourself intentionally in who you are in Christ. You got to remind yourself right out of his word, right? I'm chosen. I'm being formed into the image of Christ. I'm learning obedience. I'm not performing for God's approval. So you're not walking in this in this journey of art and life to earn God's pleasure. You're living in creating from his pleasure as his son and as his daughter. And so the best way to do that is not just positive thinking, it's actually using the word of God as an offensive weapon, not only to defend yourself, which the Bible says it can do, but also as a seed that you plant within your heart so that it starts to grow and become strong, forming your identity from the inside out. That that's how God designed for us to grow. And listen, so fourth, then I would say is let the situation teach you, not torment you. So in those moments, you know, ask the Lord, hey, what is this revealing? What, what skill needs strengthening my in my life? How how can I gain some wisdom from this? You know, Holy Spirit, show me what I need to see. See, shame always paralyzes you, but wisdom empowers you. And again, God's heart is that we come through situations like this empowered, not condemned. And finally, I would just say, you know, take one obedient step forward in the opposite direction of what the enemy is accusing you. Listen, I've just learned over the years that coming in the opposite spirit is one of the most powerful spiritual warfare strategies that you and I can practice as artists. And it doesn't have to be complicated. You know, one sketch, right? Get out your sketchbook, just start to doodle a little bit, one prayer, one hour back in the studio. Just get back on the horse, right? You don't need to feel strong or empowered or perfect to move forward. You just got to choose to walk by faith, especially when you don't feel like it is, you know, the way it should be, and declare God's faithfulness and resist the enemy. That's spiritual warfare. And listen, when you learn to do that over and over and over, that's how you begin to grow strong in the Lord and grow and step into all that he's got for you as an artist. Listen, if you're watching this video right now and you're like, you know what, I've been stuck because of that doggone situation that happened a week, a month, a year ago, a couple of days ago, or whatever, and it's just still gnawing at me. Listen, I believe that you're here by divine appointment. I believe that I showed up in your video feed for a reason. You know why? Because God loves you and He wants to set you free and He wants you to live in all the goodness and freedom that He died for you to live in so that you could live the abundant life that Jesus promised. And so here's what I'm gonna ask you to do. If you know that you've been stuck in one of these cycles, I just want you to close your eyes right now and just say, Holy Spirit, would you tell me the truth about this situation? Would you reveal to me what you believe about me right now? Would you show me your truth and come against all of this condemning fear and you know anxiety and shame and condemnation that I'm fearing right now? And listen, just take a moment, even if you need to pause the video, just take a moment right now and ask him to show you what he believes about you. And then ask him in that moment. Say, Lord, you know, show me, give me some wisdom about this situation. What's my next step forward? How can I learn from this? How can I make another step in order to, you know, walk in faith, to walk in my identity in you and to learn from this situation rather than allowing this thing to destroy me and torment me. Listen, if you'll do that, I believe that God wants to meet you right now in this moment and heal your heart, set you free, and also establish a deeper understanding of who you are in Him. In fact, I want to pray for you right now to do that. Jesus, I thank you that by your Holy Spirit, you are moving through this video right now. God, I thank you that my friend that's listening and watching is not here just, you know, because the algorithm just fed this to him. Lord, I thank you that you said our steps are ordered by you. And Lord, you've had them on your mind and you want to set them free. And so, Holy Spirit, I thank you right now that by your spirit, you're unchaining and unshackling people from condemnation and lies and anxiety and fear. And God, you're setting them free with the truth of who they are in you. And so, Father, I bind the lies of the enemy in Jesus' name. And Lord, I lose freedom, freedom in Christ, freedom to create, freedom to be who we've been called to be as artists in your kingdom, freedom to live without shame, freedom to live as the sons and daughters that you created us to be. Lord, I bless my friend right now with the ability to hear your voice, know your ways, and walk in faith toward all that you have for them. Heal their heart, Lord, bring comfort to them and guide them in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Hey, my friend, listen, I believe if you'll take time and to do that, maybe God, maybe you're feeling freedom right now. I wish you'd let me know in the comments because we love, I read every comment, I love to respond to them. And uh more than that, I see all of you guys that are watching uh responding as well and getting encouragement. Listen, the Bible says if we'll share our story, you know, we we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. And every time you share your story, it helps to set somebody else free and prove that the word of God is true in their life. So I want you to do that. Also, again, if you've not uh ever been a part of our foundations course and you're like, Matt, I would love to be able to know more about these processes of laying a solid foundation in my life and learning to renew my mind and step into all that God has for me as an artist in this season of my life. I want to encourage you, check out the foundations course. It's just 27 bucks. I price it as low as we can to have as many artists as possible be on this transformative journey where we not only learn to sow the word of God in our life, allow him to heal the broken places of our heart and mind, but also give us fresh vision for everything that he's got for us in the context of daily art projects, reading his word, and community with other artists that are on the same journey. You can find out all the details about the foundations course and all of our mentoring opportunities for Christian artists right here in the video. And I hope you'll take advantage of those today. Listen, my friend, I love you. Again, I don't believe that this is just by chance that you're here today. I believe it's a divine appointment. And I hope that you'll subscribe, ring that bell, leave me a comment, and never miss any of the great content that we're producing right here on this channel every week for Christian artists like you. Now, hey, listen, remember, uh, watch this next video. It's going to be a big, big blessing to you. And remember, till next time, you were created to thrive. Bye.