The Need for True Connection
-An exclusive excerpt from Allen’s new book-
We’re not only made to create. We’re made to connect.
When we don’t understand this stage, we can end up making a lot of things and then wondering why no one is interested. It’s often because we haven’t spent time in the community we’re creating for. There is no true connection…just a desire for commerce.
Yet the act of creating requires us to engage. For those more comfortable being alone, this may feel daunting. Yet God made us to need others. So before I ask if you’re introverted or extroverted, I’ll start with a question.
Would you categorize God and Jesus as introverted or extroverted?
Jesus savored time alone—yet was also fully himself with large groups of people. God is wholly content in his own presence. And he created a world that works best when we love him and love others in real time. Not alone in a study but only through time with others. That’s likely not the system an introvert would create.
God made us in his image. Jesus invites us to become more like him. But will doing so make us more introverted or more extroverted? These polar categories from personality tests can be more limiting than true. They are designed to define us by how we describe ourselves—but are incapable of predicting the new creation God is making us into.
You have begun to live the new life, in which you are being made new and are becoming like the One who made you. This new life brings you the true knowledge of God. (Colossians 3:10 NCV)
Another translation says we are learning to know our Creator and become like him (NLT). The real test is who we’re becoming, not who we were yesterday. When a test measures our current brokenness rather than our truest selves, the worst thing we can do is tattoo those test results on our arms or hearts and believe this is who we are.
We were made to connect. The primary result of the Creativity Glitch is that we lose connection with God and others. We feel alone and isolated yet believe it is all up to us.
That’s why the creative process doesn’t end with creation…but includes connection.
(From The Creativity Glitch: How to Stop Being Stuck, Find Your Groove, & Create with God. Copyright © 2026 Allen Arnold.)
This reading was crafted to encourage your pursuit of story and creativity with God. Your donation makes this crowd-funded initiative possible. You can support it via PAYPAL (or by check to Allen Arnold at PO Box 62841, Colorado Springs, CO 80962).
Want More?
Order your copy of The Creativity Glitch today
