Have you ever heard the expression, “You were created to create!”?
I have, but perhaps laughed it off for many years, as I’m one of a very analytical mind. If someone had told me I was created to create, I likely had a response (at least in my head) of rejection. Maybe even a retort of “I was created to plan” or “I was created to strategize”.
But I’ve come to realize: planning and strategizing are just different forms of the creative process!
What really inspired me to explore the word CREATE is a scripture I stumbled over a few weeks ago. And of course, when I say “stumbled”, I mean God placed it in my path to see. I was reading in Galatians, from one Bible translation, and decided to look it up the The Message translation for a different perspective. Here are the words I found:
Live creatively, friends. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life. Galatians 6:1,5
Many years ago, I took the strenghtsfinder test and one of my top five came up as Responsibility. So, when I read verse 5 from Galatians, my ears perked up. God commands me many things in scripture, some are harder to discern than others, but this verse is telling me quite clearly what my responsibility is:
Do the creative best I can with my own life.
There is so much to unpack with this verse. Why is it “creative best” rather than just “best”? And an obvious point here is that I am do this with my OWN life, not the lives of others.
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them… Genesis 1:27
I am made in God’s image, and He is a CREATOR. Creating is a way to stay in His Will. Creating keeps me out of self and more in tune to the Spirit working within me.
Put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Colossians 3:10
What does the word “Create” even mean? The basic definition is “to bring into existence”, and another one is “to produce through imaginative skill or design”.
God created me, He brought me into existence. Me – the human body, and Me – the eternal soul. My human life becomes a creative expression of gratitude towards my Creator. Am I doing my creative best? Am I partnering with God to contribute to this world, to create new things, to add value to life? Some more difficult questions I’ve been asking myself:
Am I creating or just consuming His creation?
Am I taking but not giving?
Am I using up resources instead of being resourceful?
Am I reducing instead of restoring?
When I am creating, I feel connected to all creation and in communion with my Creator. These are the moments I feel full of the “inexpressible joy of the lord”.
Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. 1 Peter 1:8
For me, consumption leads to appeasing my own selfish desires, the appetites of my flesh. I deplete from the vitality of my life and the created world around me.
The only thing I want to consume now is His Word. In all other aspects, I strive to be a creator, to live my creative best each day.
When I look around me, at His creation, I learn much about my Creator. The artwork He has made is an expression of Who He is.
Here are a few of my revelations about God by observing His creation:
- God has an imagination beyond compare.
- God has a sense of humor, of adventure, of mystery.
- Life is meant to be enjoyed, full of color, lived in daily increments.
- We were made to live in harmony, and when one part of creation suffers, all of creation suffers.
As I think of living my “creative best” each day, I imagine I start each morning with an art project laid out before me. I have a blank canvas, every color paint, and a variety of brushes.
What will I create with my life this day?
Each action in my day is a brush stroke. A kind word, a prayer, an offer of help, an acceptance of help. Each a different color, a unique accent, a masterpiece in the making. What will today’s painting look like at the end of the day? If I say a harsh word, indulge in selfishness, withhold generosity, my painting gets a tear in the canvas. A blotch of darkness hides the beauty beneath. If I do neither the “good” nor the “bad”, I leave my canvas empty, an opportunity wasted to add beauty to the world.
At the end of each day, I observe my painting. What does it say about how I lived today? What message does it send to others about my values? Is it an honest expression of my gratitude toward my Maker? What would a stranger know about me just by seeing my end-of-the-day painting?
I confess the dark spots and stains, make amends where needed, ask God to restore me as I lay down to sleep.
Upon awakening, I find that God has wiped my canvas clean and am awakened once again to the Spirit of creation!
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Lamentations 3:23