Creativity is an especially important and relevant topic for followers of Jesus. After all…we have the Creator of the universe living inside of us. Doesn’t that mean we—His children—should have a God-given solution for every problem? The answer, my friends, is a resounding YES! But too often, our minds get in the way and tell us creativity is only for people who are artsy or musical. Although that is a lie from the pit of hell, it can unfortunately be reinforced by many things in our society, work and schools. 

I once taught a college class called Creativity in the Classroom. It started out as a very frustrating experience, because many students wanted me to tell them exactly what to do. They wanted a formula for assignments that they could follow to achieve a desired grade. Their main focus was to get an A in class—not learn or grow or discover or express what was truly inside of them. They were excellent at giving teachers what they wanted but didn’t like sharing original thoughts or ideas that might be different from everyone else. No matter what I said or tried to do, they resisted moving into areas that were new and required something more than a formula. They were afraid to take a risk.

In desperation, I asked God for a breakthrough way to help them emerge from their tiny-box comfort zones. He sent a new friend and together we created a fun experience that everyone could easily do and complete during one class session. When it was time to share what they had done, they were simply astonished that no one’s work looked alike. To their complete surprise, each one was capable of producing a great result that differed from their classmates and still fulfilled the assignment. 

I often think of heaven where we’ll be assembled with trillions of other believers. Very few of us will look alike, but we will all resemble our Father. Even in our different appearances, we’ll be bound together in perfect harmony and clothed with His love (Col 3:14). 

God designed variety. He created thousands of different birds and flowers on purpose! Because we are made in His image and likeness, his 1^st human son, Adam, was even able to come up with very different names for every animal God had just created. 

The apostle Paul reinforces God’s desire for us to display our own brand of uniqueness: “Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else” (Gal 6:4 NLT). Each one of us has a valuable contribution to make. We bring different pieces to the puzzles of this life and a range of Godly perspectives about truths in the Word. This is the Holy Spirit’s work. He is rich and diverse in the ways He talks and interacts with all of us. Every time we cooperate with Him, we display another part of the breadth and width and length and height of His soft, bold, beautiful and multi-colored love. Like the hymn says, “And for Thy pleasure, they are created. Thou art worthy, O Lord!”

Let’s advertise His creativity in the ways we mow our yards, furnish our apartments, hang pictures, grow flowers, eat vegetables, invest our finances, choose clothes and vehicles and beverages. He has wonderful options to share with us and they’re all good. Holy Spirit wants to help us invade our homes, playgrounds, schools, jobs and churches with a multitude of divinely innovative, original and righteous ideas that will transform this earth into heaven. He’s building beautiful roads and planting trees, cooking meals and repairing faucets. He’s bringing God-good to all of it. 

Lord, we invite You to have Your creative way in and through us today, this week, this month, this year and for eternity!