2021-03-06
Genesis 1:28 NKJV
Your heavenly Father created the world – and you are made in His image. That means you are wired to think creatively. God finished His creative work in six days, then our work began. God said, in essence, ‘I’ve provided you with all the resources and talents you need to have an abundant life. Now do something good with it.’
The sheep He made give wool, from which we create beautiful fabrics in differing colours for matching outfits. God didn’t make cheese; He made cows that give milk so that we can create cheese from it. The Bible describes the beginning of all things in these words: ‘Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply.”‘
The word ‘multiply’ means that God wants you to end up with more than you started out with. But to do that you must begin to think creatively! Instead of simply accepting what is, you need to take what is and make something more out of it. When you do that, you’re following in your heavenly Father’s footsteps.
Sometimes churches pour cold water on any thought or activity that isn’t religious, saying it’s ‘worldly’ and therefore God is not pleased with it. That’s like saying God only works within the four walls of a church. No, ‘The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein’ (Psalm 24:1 KJV).
Wherever you are, whoever you are, whatever you do in life, God wants you to put your creativity to work so that you can glorify Him and bless others.
Soul food: Gen 42-43; Matt 21:12-17; Ps 106:1-23; Prov 7:1-2
Genesis 1:28 NKJV
Our heavenly Father created the world – and we are made in His image. That means we’re wired to think creatively. God finished His creative work in six days, then our work began. God basically said, ‘I’ve provided you with all the resources and talents you need to have an abundant life. Now do something good with it.’ The sheep He made give wool, which we use to create beautiful fabrics in different colours for all kinds of clothes. God didn’t make cheese; He made cows that give milk so that we can create cheese from it.
The Bible describes the beginning of all things in these words: ‘Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply.”‘ The word ‘multiply’ means that God wants us to end up with more than we started with. But to do that we need to think creatively!
Instead of just accepting what’s around us, we need to take what’s there and make something more out of it. When we do that, we’re following in our heavenly Father’s footsteps.
Sometimes churches discourage any thought or activity that isn’t religious, saying it’s ‘worldly’ and therefore God isn’t pleased with it. But that’s like saying God only works within the four walls of a church. The truth is, ‘The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it – the world and all its people (Psalm 24:1 NCV).
Wherever we are, whoever we are, whatever we do in life, God wants us to put our creativity to work so that we can glorify Him and bless others.
Gen 42-43; Matt 21:12-17; Ps 106:1-23; Prov 7:1-2
Genesis 1:28 NLV
Jou hemelse Vader het die wêreld geskep – en jy is na sy beeld gemaak. Dit beteken dat jy geskep is om kreatief te dink. God het sy kreatiewe werk in ses dae klaargemaak en toe het ons werk begin. God sê inderwaarheid vir ons: ‘Ek het julle van al die hulpbronne en talente voorsien om ‘n oorvloedige lewe te kan hê. Doen nou iets goeds daarmee.’
Die skape wat Hy gemaak het, voorsien ons van wol, waarmee ons pragtige materiaal in verskillende kleure kan maak. God het nie kaas gemaak nie; Hy het koeie gemaak wat melk voorsien waarmee ons kaas kan maak.
Die Bybel beskryf die begin van al hierdie dinge in die volgende woorde: “God het hulle geseën deur te sê: ‘Wees vrugbaar en vermeerder en vul die aarde…'” Die woord ‘vermeerder,’ beteken dat God wil hê dat jy met meer moet opeindig as waarmee jy begin het. Om dit te doen moet jy egter kreatief begin dink!
In plaas daarvan om dinge net te aanvaar soos dit is, moet jy dit neem en iets meer daaruit maak. Wanneer jy dit doen, volg jy in jou hemelse Vader se voetspore.
Soms gooi die kerk koue water oor enige gedagte of aktiwiteit wat nie godsdienstig is nie, deur te sê dat dit ‘wêrelds’ is en dus nie God sal behaag nie. Dis soos om te sê dat God slegs binne die vier mure van die kerk werk. Nee, ‘Die aarde behoort aan die Here, met alles wat daarop is, die wêreld en alles wat daarop lewe’ (Psalm 24:1 NLV).
Waar jy ook al is, wie jy ook al is, wat jy ook al in die lewe doen, God wil hê dat jy jou kreatiwiteit moet gebruik sodat jy Hom kan verheerlik en ander mense kan seën.
Sielskos: Gen 42-43; Matt 21:12-17; Ps 106:1-23; Spr 7:1-2
2021-03-05
Philippians 2:13 NLT
We’ll only have good ideas if we value ideas. We also need to accept that not all our ideas will be good ones, and not allow ourselves to be discouraged if we come up with a hundred bad ideas before we hit on a good one. When we’re thinking creatively, we need to:
1) Explore every option. Exploring a multitude of possibilities helps to stimulate our imagination, and imagination is vital to creativity. Albert Einstein said, ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge.’ That’s because imagination looks for new ways to put our knowledge to work.
2) Welcome ambiguity. Creative people need to get comfortable with uncertainty. They see all kinds of inconsistencies and gaps in life, and they enjoy exploring those gaps or using their imagination to fill them in. When we find an unmet need, we can either decide that nothing can be done about it, or pray and look for a way to meet that need (see Philippians 4:19).
3) Celebrate the offbeat. Creativity explores off the beaten track. To nurture creativity, we must be willing to put up with originality and oddness.
4) Be unafraid of failure. Creativity requires a willingness to be wrong sometimes. It can mean going out on a limb, knowing that limbs often break. The key is to not be afraid to try something new and different – even if it goes wrong, we can learn so much from our mistakes.
Creative people know these things and still keep searching for new ideas. They refuse to let the ideas that don’t work prevent them from coming up with ones that do.
Gen 40-41; Matt 21:1-11; Ps 136:13-26; Prov 6:32-35
Filippense 2:13 NLV
Jy sal slegs goeie idees hê, indien jy idees waardeer. Andersins sal jy op die rug van ander mense se idees deur die lewe dryf. Kreatiewe denkers:
1) Verken elke opsie. Jou verbeelding word gestimuleer wanneer jy ‘n verskeidenheid opsies verken, wat noodsaaklik vir kreatiwiteit is. Albert Einstein het gesê: ‘Verbeelding is belangriker as kennis.’ Hoekom? Omdat dit nuwe maniere soek om jou kennis aan die werk te sit.
2) Verwelkom dubbelsinnigheid. Kreatiewe mense voel nie die behoefte om onsekerheid uit te wis nie. Hulle sien allerhande teenstrydighede en gapings in die lewe raak en geniet dit om daardie gapings te verken of hulle verbeelding te gebruik om die gapings te vul. Wanneer jy voor ‘n onvervulde behoefte te staan kom, kan jy óf tot die gevolgtrekking kom dat jy niks daaraan kan doen nie, óf daaroor bid en na ‘n manier soek om aan daardie behoefte te voldoen (sien Filippense 4:19)
3) Vier die vreemde. Kreatiwiteit verken die ongekende paadjies. Kingman Brewster, voormalige president van Yale Universiteit, het gesê: ‘Daar is ‘n korrelasie tussen die kreatiewe en die eksentrieke. Dus moet ons die eksentrieke met ope arms verwelkom.’ Om kreatiwiteit te bevorder, moet jy gewillig wees om oorspronklikheid en vreemdheid te verduur.
4) Is nie bang vir mislukking nie. Die Amerikaanse filosoof Charles Frankel het gesê: ‘Angs is die noodsaaklike toestand van intellektuele en kunssinnige skepping.’ Kreatiwiteit verg die gewilligheid om simpel te lyk, maar steeds die kans te vat.
Kreatiewe mense weet al hierdie dinge, maar hou steeds aan soek na nuwe idees. Hulle weier om toe te laat dat die idees wat nie werk nie, hulle daarvan weerhou om met idees wat wel werk, vorendag te kom.
Sielskos: Gen 40-41; Matt 21:1-11; Ps 136:13-26; Spr 6:32-35
