Made to Make: Why Everyone Is Creative (Because God Is)

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

That’s how the story of Scripture kicks off. The very first thing we learn about God isn’t that He’s loving, holy, or all-powerful (all true).

It’s that He creates.

And then, in the same chapter, we read:

“So God created people in his own image… male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27).

Did you see it?

If God is the Creator, and we’re made in His image, that makes us creators too. Creativity isn’t a personality trait for a select few—it’s hardwired into every single one of us.

To be human is to create.

But here’s the problem: most of us stopped believing this reality somewhere along the way.

How We Lost Our Creative Spark

Think about little kids. Every child paints, sings, tells stories, builds interesting Lego worlds. No one has to teach a kid to be creative—it pours out unprompted.

But then school happens. By middle school and high school, we hear messages like:

“Be practical. Creativity is nice, but it won’t pay the bills.”

Art class gets cut from the budget. Writing stories are “cute,” but you’d better learn how to do your taxes, and find a “real” job.

And then we become adults, and the world doubles down:

• In the workplace, creativity is replaced with efficiency. “Just do what works. Don’t reinvent the wheel.”

• In politics and education, imagination often takes a back seat to “the way we’ve always done it.”

• And in the church? Too often we hear: “The church doesn’t need art, it needs preaching.” Music gets a pass, but painting, poetry, film, design? People often treat those as distractions from “real ministry.”

No wonder so many of us reach adulthood convinced we’re not creative. No wonder so many people exploring the workforce want nothing to do with these non-creative spaces.

God’s Word Says Otherwise

But Scripture doesn’t let us off the hook so easily. Creativity isn’t optional—it’s one of God’s gifts to His people.

Here are a couple of samples:

• When the tabernacle was being built, God gave Bezalel and Oholiab the Spirit—not just to preach or lead—but to make art.

“He has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding… to make artistic designs” (Exodus 35:31–32).

The Spirit empowered art, creativity, and craftsmanship.

• In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul lists gifts like wisdom, faith, healing, knowledge. They might not sound “artistic,” but they’re all creative.

These gifts when used appropriately bring new life, new solutions, new ministries, and new possibilities into being.

• And in Ephesians 2:10, Paul calls us God’s poiēma. That’s the Greek word for poem, handiwork, masterpiece.

You and I are God’s artwork. And we’re created to make good works of our own. To set creativity to the sidelines is to war against our very nature.

Creativity isn’t a side hustle in the kingdom. It’s baked into the DNA of what it means to follow Jesus.

Creativity Beyond the Arts

Now, don’t get me wrong—painters, poets, and musicians absolutely embody creativity. But let’s not stop there.

History shows us creativity at work in all kinds of places:

• Business: Steve Jobs didn’t just build computers. He reimagined how technology could feel like art in your hands. Spending years agonizing over the fonts on the machines.

• Politics: Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation wasn’t just politics—it was a bold creative re-visioning of what America could become. A vision for what it means to be human in the world.

• Science: Marie Curie didn’t just follow the scientific formulas of her day—she imagined possibilities others couldn’t see. In the late 1800s, while most scientists were content to study known elements, Curie pushed into the unknown.

• The Church: Martin Luther didn’t just complain about indulgences. He reimagined the entire way the church could live out the gospel.

See the pattern?

Creativity is problem-solving, vision-casting, daring to imagine something new. It’s not just making art—it’s making anything new. It’s taking the stuff of the earth and mind and bringing it into existence.

Art is everywhere.

My Story: Creativity Buried and Resurrected

For years, I thought creativity was for “real artists.” I loved writing stories as a kid, but people around me said: “That’s nice, but what are you going to do that’s practical?” So I set writing aside.

Later in life, when I picked it back up, it was like reconnecting with oxygen. Writing wasn’t just making stuff up—it was worship. It was me reflecting the God who imagined galaxies into existence.

And once I saw it, I started noticing creativity everywhere. My friend designed a business to serve his community in fresh ways. A church elder who came up with an urban school model reaching an underserved population. A teacher who found new methods to reach struggling students.

None of them would’ve called themselves “artists.” But every single one was creating in the image of God.

The Lie of “Unnecessary Creativity”

So let’s name the lie: creativity is unnecessary.

The world says creativity is only valuable if it makes money. The church sometimes says creativity is only valuable if it’s tied directly to preaching.

But God says creativity is valuable because it reflects Him.

You don’t have to write a bestseller or paint a masterpiece to be creative. You just have to live as God designed you—someone who brings solutions to problems, imagination, and beauty into the world.

Parenting is creative. Leadership is creative. Gardening is creative. Coding software is creative. Preaching is creative. Making dinner is creative. Creativity is simply reflecting God’s imagination in your everyday life.

How to Live More Creatively

So how do we recover this part of our calling?

1. See creativity everywhere. Don’t limit it to art class. Look for it in business plans, family traditions, Sunday sermons, or lesson plans. Tell someone you see their “art.”

2. Resist the pressure to only do “what works.” Sometimes the Spirit nudges us toward something new, something risky. Faithfulness doesn’t always look efficient.

3. Encourage creativity in the church. Make space for painters, filmmakers, designers, entrepreneurs, dancers, writers, and dreamers. Their gifts belong to the body of Christ.

4. Practice creativity yourself. Start small. Journal. Plant a garden. Write a song. Sketch in the margins. Pitch the idea at work. Creativity grows with use.

We Create Because He Creates

Since the Creator made everyone in His image, everyone is creative.

When we bury our creativity, we bury part of God’s image in us. But when we lean into it—in art, in business, in parenting, in church—we echo the first chapter of Genesis:

“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.”

To create is to worship. To imagine is to honor the One who imagined us. Living fully as God’s masterpiece means to build, paint, write, innovate, parent, and dream.

So go create something today. Not because the world needs another product, but because the world needs more reflections of its Creator.

-Ryan