The Thriving Christian Artist

5 Steps to Rewire Your Brain for Creativity

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

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What if mind renewal wasn’t abstract advice but a concrete, daily rhythm that rewires your creative life? We dig into Romans 12:2 and show how a Spirit-led process can transform the inner story you believe, so your art flows from peace instead of pressure and from calling instead of comparison. This isn’t motivational fluff. It’s a practical blueprint for partnering with the Holy Spirit to change how you think, decide, and create.

We walk through the Five R’s—Recognize, Repent, Replace, Reinforce, Rejoice—and explain why each step matters for artists who face resistance, self-doubt, and perfectionism. You’ll learn how to catch limiting thoughts, align your agreements with Scripture, and install a new “operating system” using passages like Ephesians 2:10 and 2 Corinthians 3:5. As you repeat truth and practice daily gratitude, you signal safety to your nervous system, which quiets fear and opens space for curiosity and creative flow. We connect this spiritual rhythm to brain science: when the amygdala calms, risk becomes possible and imagination wakes up.

By the end, you’ll have a simple daily assignment to begin renewing your mind and reshaping your creative process. Expect practical outcomes: pricing work without panic, sharing without chasing approval, and meeting resistance as a growth cue. Same hands, same skill, new inner narrative—leading to bolder choices and richer art rooted in identity, not insecurity.

If this sparked something in you, subscribe for more teaching on faith, creativity, and mindset. Share this with an artist who needs a hopeful reset, and leave a review to tell us which of the Five R’s you’ll practice first.

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SPEAKER_00:

We hear the phrase renew your mind all the time in church, but very few of us realize that it's actually a practical blueprint for how God designed your creative brain to function. See, science is just now catching up to what Paul wrote about and taught about in Romans 12, too, that you can physically rewire how you think and create and perceive the world. And so in this video, I want to show you exactly how the mechanics of this spiritual principle works and why it really is the key to unlocking the fullness of your creative calling as an artist in God's kingdom. So as we get started, I want to jump into scripture right away and start with Romans 12, 2 in the New King James. It says, and do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may be able to prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. I love that word transformed, and it actually means to be changed, fundamentally changed from the inside out. See, Paul's not talking about trying harder or hoping more. He's talking about installing a new operating system on the inside. And as artists, as people who live from the inside out, this is everything. So the question is, why does this matter so much for artists? Well, see, your art doesn't just start in your hands. You know that, I know that, right? It starts in how you see yourself, how you interpret and respond to resistance that comes your way, how you perceive opportunities and how you imagine what's possible for you. And so listen, when scripture talks about renewing the mind, it's talking about changing the lens, like a new pair of glasses through which you can see your life and your calling as an artist. That's why, you know, two artists with the same exact skill level can have completely different outcomes, same talent, you know, same abilities, but completely different inner narratives on the inside. Now, hey, before you just jump to conclusions and start thinking that this is just some self-help mumbo jumbo, maybe be really clear. This is not just self-help or or positive thinking. This is actually how you cooperate really practically with the Holy Spirit so that the inner narrative of your heart and mind actually gets shaped by the truth of God's word instead of things like fear and inadequacy or or past experiences that you may have. See, God doesn't renew your mind for you, He renews your mind with you as you learn to cooperate with Him moment by moment, thought by thought, and agreement by agreement. I I kind of like to think about this whole process as um, you know, like a computer, like you're installing a new computer system. You I don't know if you've ever had an old computer, but you can try to run new software on an old operating system. And listen, it is slow and glitchy and frustrating. Nothing's broken necessarily, it's just it's just outdated. And for a lot of believers that are trying to live life as a believer in the new covenant, they're operating in an old operating system. And so the renewing of your mind is God's way of installing an entirely different operating system inside of you based on a completely different way of thinking. And listen, when that happens, it brings you in sync with heaven and with God's word and how God designed you to see and feel and live and create with him. Now, here's where this starts to get practical and pretty fun. Over the years, the Holy Spirit showed me a simple rhythm for renewing the mind. I like to call it the five R's because I just I just like things that are easy to remember. And I don't want you to think about this as a formula, but more of like a daily partnership. And I want to show you how this really starts to work to start to change how you think and create and and perceive reality. And so the first one, the first R that we're going to talk about is recognize. And it's about understanding that your awareness, the way you see things, changes your perception. See, this is where everything starts. You start with recognizing the thoughts that are coming in to your mind. The Bible says, take every thought captive. And I always encourage you when you're doing that to ask two simple questions. Number one, does this sound like Jesus? And number one, number two, does this agree with God's word? So, for example, say you're sitting down in your studio and you feel this sort of tightening in your chest or weird feeling in your stomach, and the thought starts to come like, you're not very good. You shouldn't be doing this, or you should be further along by now, or you don't have an art degree. Just in the middle of that, just kind of pause and take a deep breath. And instead of believing it automatically, just recognize it. Just take a moment and run it through those two questions and ask, is this a truth or the lie? And listen, that pause by itself starts the process of rewiring your brain. And then the second R is actually repent. And this is really powerful because it kind of underscores the fact that your choice to choose to recognize that thought actually creates a new pathway in your brain. And that's huge. See, the word repent, all it means in the Bible is just to change your mind, to change the way you're thinking, to align it with God's word. And so it's an opportunity to say, Lord, I realize that this is not of you. And I choose not to install this. I want to come out of agreement with it. And listen, in that moment, you're choosing not to judge yourself, to beat yourself up, you know, to say you're not worthy or whatever. You're choosing to align with God's word. And again, that choice in itself starts to weaken those old neural pathways that are inside of your brain and starts to strengthen the new one that the Holy Spirit is helping you form as you start to renew your mind. Now, the third R is for replace, and it's where you start to actually install this new operating system that we've been talking about into your brain by replacing that lie with the truth of God's word. In other words, that thought of inadequacy that we were talking about a minute ago, you know, it gets replaced with scriptures like maybe Ephesians 2.10 that says, For for I'm God's workmanship, right? Created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God is prepared before beforehand, that we should walk in them. I I love that scripture, that idea that I'm God's poem, his poema, or maybe, you know, 2 Corinthians 3.5 that says our sufficiency is from God. See, when you do that, here's what's happening. You're not just being overly spiritual, or you're not just kind of name it and claim it. You're literally installing a new operating system and cooperating with the Holy Spirit to teach your brain a new story. And the cool thing is over time, your creativity starts to respond to those new stories. Now, unfortunately, this right here at this stage in the journey is where most artists get stuck. They may be pretty good at recognizing the lie, and of course they they want to change their thinking, but and maybe they even know, you know, a verse or two that they've used in the past, but they really don't have a way, a rhythm, a daily rhythm to practice this consistently, especially when you know their emotions get involved. And this is actually why I created the foundations course. It's a guided journey where I walk with Christian artists through this exact process that I'm teaching you today, the five R's, but not just in your head. We actually do it through your art and art processes. We use a simple spirit-led creative set of exercises to help you with these truths and help you move from information, actually installing that into your heart and into your nervous system and into your daily life. So instead of you just trying to fix yourself on your own, you're actually creating with God as He brings healing and renewal to your heart from the inside out. Listen, if you want to learn how to do this with me as your guide, I'll put a link below. And again, no pressure, but it's just an invitation to kind of take this thing that you're learning today to a whole different level of transformation. Now, the fourth R is what I call reinforced because we know that repetition is what creates freedom. See, this recognizing and replacing doesn't just happen once. I mean, I wish it did, right? Say it once and it's over, but it's actually got to become a daily part of your life where you're on the regular basis learning to reinforce the truth of God's word. You know, you're coming back to it tomorrow. You speak it when the resistance comes up. You you meditate on it in your heart. See, this is how the new pathways become the defaults on the inside. It's how old reactions lose their grip and the new responses, based on God's word, start to feel more natural than the old habits. Now, the last R is what I call rejoice because listen, joy is what seals the transformation in your heart. So every day is a part of your normal routine, time of the Lord. I really encourage you to just start thanking God for the things that align with your new normal in Him, for your provision and for your health and for opportunities, for resources and relationships and ideas that all belong to you as a son and daughter in Christ, for the promise of his love for you and his protection for you as you walk with him. Listen, walking by faith and daily rejoicing does not mean that everything feels easy yet, but it means that you're choosing to set your mind on the truth of God's word. Just like the Bible says, set your mind on things above. And you're choosing to create an inner picture of what God says is true rather than what your past experiences say or what your feelings of inadequacy may say are true in your life. See, not only does that start to change your perspective, but the joy that you're feeling when you do that actually signals to your nervous system. And guess what? Your creativity flows best from that place of safety and love that only comes from the presence of the Holy Spirit. Now, listen, you might be thinking, well, Matt, this sounds like great spiritual advice, but how does this actually, you know, rewire my brain for creativity? Well, listen, here is the really, really important connection that I want you to get. See, creativity, all creativity, requires risk. And your brain is wired by God to avoid risk when it feels unsafe or inadequate. And see, when you use these five R's to start replacing the lie of, like, for example, I'm not good enough with the truth of I'm God's workmanship, you are literally calming down your brain's fear center, what's called the amygdala. And see, when your fear starts going down in your brain, it allows curiosity to start going up. When striving in your own strength starts going down, you know, when that starts going down, creativity flow starts going up. See, you aren't just becoming a happier person. You're literally chemically and spiritually unlocking the part of your brain that imagines and events and creates and risks and do all the things that we do as artists. See, that's why this isn't just some, you know, happy-go-lucky self-help kind of strategy. It's literally a Holy Spirit-led strategy for creativity based in his word and based in his presence. So listen, as a little bit of thing for you to practice today as you're ending up, try, try today just to catch one of those thoughts about yourself or about your art and just pause and say, listen, does this sound like Jesus? Does this align with God's word? And if it doesn't, repent. Repent if you've agreed with it in the past and choose just one Bible verse to start replacing that lie with this truth. And listen, right there in that moment, as simple as that may sound, that is the beginning of rewiring your creative mind. Listen, my friend, just like any process that you're learning for the very first time, it's going to take some practice. But I want to pray for you today because I believe that you're here by divine appointment. I believe that God wanted you to hear this message and wanted you to start installing this new operating system that he designed in your heart so that you can be everything that God's designed for you to be as an artist in his kingdom. So, Father, I just pray right now for my friend. Lord, I thank you for bringing them here wherever they were, whatever they were doing today, they ended up on this video at this time and listening to me. And Lord, I just pray that more than my voice, they heard your voice. God, I pray, pray more than my invitation, they feel your invitation to start rewiring their creative brain in concert with you, God, so that we can all experience the inner transformation that you have for us through the power of your word and the power of the Holy Spirit. God, bless them today as they lean into this process for the first time. Give them grace, Lord, and let them feel your presence today in such a powerful way. I thank you for that in Jesus' name. Amen. So listen, I want to wrap all of this up for you together. I know this was a lot, but when you start to renew your mind using these simple five R's, you create without pressure. You can do things like price your work without panic. You can start to share your art without needing everybody's approval. You can start to see resistance as a part of the growth process, not as proof of your failure. And you start to trust God's leading instead of overthinking every move. Again, same hands, same skill, maybe, but completely different experience because you're learning how to renew your creative mind. Hey, I love you, friend. It's a joy to be with you. Make sure you hit the subscribe button so you never miss any of the great content I've got here on the channel. Make sure to watch this next video. It's going to be one that's really going to bless your heart. And remember, till next time, you were created to thrive. Bye.