God Made You to Be Creative
“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10
Did you know that God made you creative? He did!
I love all things art, writing, baking, and music, but so often I let those loves go. In a season of working and grading and raising babies, it’s hard for me to make time to let my creative juices flow. Yet I’ve learned that creativity is like a muscle: in order to feel strong and capable, you have to “work out”. One thing I’ve been doing lately is reading Jennie Schut’s book “Waking Up Grey,” a book on creative awakening in the context of faith. I love her list of “Creative Basics,” principles she holds to about why as Christians we are created for creativity. Here are a few of my favorites:
- We have been made in the image of God; into His likeness.
- With the Fall, there was a terrible distortion and disintegration of ourselves as image-bearers of God, but our true nature as image-bearers remains.
- Jesus, who rescued us, is even now in the process of restoring His image in us.
- Part of His restoration includes our aesthetic, creative sense.
- The world needs truth, beauty, and goodness. [God] delights when we create to bring more of these within the grand narrative. [God] has ordained us to be creative and champions our work.
What a good message! Like Ephesians 2:10 says, we are God’s handiwork, the beautiful piece of art, created by His hands. In Jesus, we are called to bring that beauty into the world to do good works. And how beautiful that our own creativity, our creative God working through us, is part of the good work we get to do on earth!
Whether you love to knit, bake, sing, dance, collage, paint, play an instrument, or do any other form of creative task, everything you make is the image of God alive in you! If you’re like me and have spent a lot of time thinking you’re not creative, or you’re too busy to be creative, let me ask you what I’m asking myself: What is the world missing when you choose not to create?
Today, can you take ten minutes, thirty minutes, one hour, and set aside time to do something that brings God glory? Can you capture the beauty of His world through sketching, drawing, painting, or photography? Can you worship Him through music, singing, or dancing? Can you string words together to tell the story of God’s goodness to you? There are so many ways to be creative, and whether it’s doing what you already love to do or trying something new today, I pray we are all brave enough to celebrate and use the good gifts God has given us.
Here are a few questions for you to reflect on when it comes to your own creativity:
- What areas has God blessed you with talent? Are you using these talents currently?
- What keeps you from creating regularly? Where in your schedule could you carve out time for this practice?
- When it comes to trying a new form of creativity, are you willing to do things badly in order to bring God glory?