When we hear the word creativity we respond in a handful of ways.
Many of us get excited. We love everything to do with creativity. We can draw or paint, sing or dance, and LOVE the arts.
Others of us break out into a cold sweat thinking about that one art class we had to take in high school.
Still others of us simply ignore it. We think we’re just not creative. Never have been; never will be.
And if you look at your kids, I bet at least a few of them feel the same way. They hate being on stage, they have no rhythm, can’t play an instrument, and start to flip out when they see a box of crayons. For whatever reason, they’ve been taught to think about creativity in terms of arts and crafts, music and dance.
But there’s something about creativity that we all need to remember. We’re not creative because of our talents. We’re creative because that’s how God made us. He designed each of us with a mind to think beyond ourselves and imagine the possibility for, well anything.
It’s God’s image in us that gives us the capacity to see beyond the ordinary and to understand a dimension of life that a dog, or a tree, or a whale cannot experience. Our imagination—our creativity—is a reflection of His image.
That’s why we’re taking the month of October to look at CREATIVITY: using your imagination to do something unique.
It’s so important that leaders and parents work to tap into a child’s imagination and fuel their creative side. Not simply because we want to unleash a child’s potential to do unique things, but because we want every child to grow up and put faith in what God can do in their personal life and believe in what He wants to do through them.
You have an opportunity throughout a child’s life to spark his or her creativity and to say over and over again to every child: You have amazing potential to create because you were created in the image of an amazing Creator.
Really, creativity is simply imagination plus action. When your imagination leads you to do something good, to make a unique mark, to find a unique answer or solution, you are being creative.
In week 1, we start with the most creative act ever: God’s creation of the world. In Genesis 1, we see God’s creativity on display as trees and flowers, stars and galaxies, and a whole lot of animals are spoken into being. And then God created us in His image to be creative in the world we call home.
Our Bottom Line is: You were created, so you can be creative. Creativity isn’t just about arts and crafts, creativity is about using your imagination to solve problems and figure out how to help others.
In week 2, we look at Exodus 1:22–2:10. Miriam had the responsibility of watching out for her brother Moses when he was floating in the Nile River. She thought on her feet and creatively figured out a way for Moses’ mother to be with him in the palace.
Our Bottom Line is: Use your imagination to figure it out. We will discover that God gave us an imagination to solve problems of any size.
In week 3, we look at David’s final words in 2 Samuel 23:1-2. David notes that he did what God created him to do. He ruled God’s people. He wrote songs of worship to God. David didn’t always get it right, but he was still a man after God’s heart.
Our Bottom Line is: Use your imagination to do what you were made to do. God uniquely designed each of us to do something specific. We’ll discover ideas for how to put our gifts into practice.
In week 4, we take a look at one of Jesus’ familiar teachings from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:14-16. Jesus told His followers that they are the light of the world and the salt of the earth. We can use our gifts to point others toward Jesus.
Our Bottom Line is: Use your imagination to do more good. When we use our gifts and talents to do good, we have an opportunity to show others God’s love. When people see the good we do, it points them toward God.
Our memory verse this month is Ephesians 2:10: “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
God wants to do something unique with our lives. We are created in His image, and because of His work in us through Jesus, we have an amazing capacity to use our creativity to do more good things.
Every parent, every leader wants the children they influence to live their lives to the fullest. When we really believe we are made in the image of God, we believe in a new set of possibilities. When you understand the image of God that is in you, you begin to look at life from a new perspective.
By Dan Scott ©2014 The reThink Group. All rights reserved. www.ThinkOrange.com *Used by permission.