Glorifying God through art

Reference: www​.gotquestions.org
God says, "In the hearts of all who are skillful I have put skill." We learn two things about God’s view of art in this passage: He likes it, and He is the source of it. He wants man to create beautiful things, and their skill in doing so is from Him.


I love art, I express my love for it through writing, music, as well as pictures. That's one of the reason why I learnt photography, I write and I want to learn to mix sound (disc jockey). Some years back, I came across an article that made mention that tattoo is also a form of art, upon reading it; my heart was heavy and was filled with sadness.

Again, in Song of Solomon, the beauty of the bride is compared to “the work of the hands of a cunning workman” (7:1). God is the creator; He is the artist whose hands create beauty. It follows that any beauty we create is glorifying to God, our creator.

"Tattoo is beautiful but does it glorify God, our creator?" Some thoughts do rise about me having a tattoo and depict some important events of my life on my body.

That said, it is important to define beauty. Art that is created to shock or horrify, or to glorify or elicit sin (violence, lust, greed) cannot be called “beautiful.” It is still “art” but not art that glorifies God.

Art that glorifies God must have two properties. First, it must be “artistic”; that is, it must be creative, well executed (a good representation of the object) and well crafted (well made). It must have worth as an object of value. Second, it should be something of which the artist can say, “God put it in my heart to make this.”

Creator of idols are skillful artisans (Isaiah 40:19), their skill are been used to pervert God's glory, not honour it. Very saddened that some tattoos are very beautiful and tempting to have but are they worth having? God dwells in “the perfection of beauty” (Psalm 50:2), and "His holiness is beautiful" (1 Chronicles 16:29 and Psalm 29:2). In creating God-glorifying art, the artist’s goal should be to lift the soul of man towards heaven and to illumine in new ways the multi-faceted beauty of God’s holiness, power and grace.

There are literally millions of ways artists can depict God's glory. Their creativity and the skill that God has placed in their hearts and hands will guide them to create art that will help us transcend the ugliness and pollution of this world. Artists, musicians, authors, and all who have this common mission are a special and valuable part of God’s kingdom.