4 practical ways to approach creativity based on the Bible

Today I will share with you 4 practical ways to approach creativity based on the creation story in the Bible.

Everyone is creative. God graced each of us with varying degrees of one creative skill or another. Some people can paint, others can write, etc. But no doubt each of us owns unique gifts. How do I know? God created us in His image. Since the ultimate Creator made us, then by default we too can create. Whether we’ve discovered or honed our particular talents is another story.

How fitting to begin my blogging journey with a post on creation. It’s taken from the book of Genesis (or “Beginnings”) in the Bible. There are four important lessons in this story we can apply to our own creative endeavors.

Lesson 1

Talk about your plans and goals.

Eight times in the creation story, we read the phrase, “God said”. It doesn’t say “He thought”. It doesn’t say “He jotted everything down in His planner”. He spoke His vision. Amy Howard, in her book “A Maker’s Guide” writes, “Nothing that is hidden can grow in effectiveness. When you admit your dream out loud, it is birthed.”

There’s nothing wrong with planning or creating detailed lists with actionable steps to achieve our goals. But as Emily Rooney from the blog Happy Organized Life writes, “I’m the kind of person who can plan and strategize all day long. I like to think I’m preparing, but the truth is usually I’m procrastinating. Trapping myself in analysis paralysis is a great way to excuse myself from taking any real action. Unfortunately it also keeps me from experiencing any real growth or results.” Remember, God is the example for how we are to live our lives. If He got things accomplished by speaking them into existence, what makes us assume our methods are better?

Lesson 2

Take the project in steps.

We’ve all heard the phrase “Rome wasn’t built in a day”. Well, neither were the heavens or the earth. In the creation story, we read God accomplished His vision over a series of days. He had the power to get it all done in one day, but He didn’t. Why? I can’t presume the answer. But what we can take away is that we too should take our big projects and break them down into manageable pieces so we don’t become overwhelmed.

Lesson 3

Take breaks to rest.

Along with breaking down our projects into manageable pieces, we must also allow ourselves adequate time to rest and recharge while the project is ongoing. Nowhere in the creation story does it say “God worked all night”. Instead, we read six times He created, the day passed – and when the new day dawned, then He started the next phase.

Rest is important. So much so, the Bible tells us the day after God finished the entire creation project, He rested. God doesn’t need rest. He was showing us how vital rest is and how important to see what we’ve accomplished before moving ahead.

Lesson 4

Don’t obsess over perfection.

Perfect is the enemy of the good, the Italian proverb goes. This one hits home for me. I can’t tell you how many projects I have waiting to get done. Projects that don’t get started because I fear they won’t turn out perfect. Yet in the creation story, we read six times that God esteemed His work “good”; and once finished He deemed the entire project “very good”.

Friends, God is perfect. His creation work was perfect. But He didn’t label it that way. Why? Just speculation, but maybe He didn’t want to discourage us in our creative efforts. This means we do the best we can. But if the finished project doesn’t match the picture we had in our heads, we can still call it good, or even very good. Done is better than perfect. Done is better than a pile of furniture hanging out in your garage for years.

I don’t know about you, but with these 4 practical ways to approach creativity, I now feel empowered to tackle my project list, and I hope you do too!

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