the importance of CREATING

im back. i really just feel quite convicted lately about my lack of CREATION! i have not been creating lately and that makes me feel gross. so i need to write. i need to create. i need to stop consuming and destroying, and become more of a producer and creator.

here's why this is important to me-

i was CREATED in the image of God. the very first verse in all of scripture- the very first description of God's character- is that he is a CREATOR.

'in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.'

He is a creator. later in the creation story, when God creates man, we learn that we are created in HIS image. we were created to look, to act, to feel, to live, to engage, like HIM.

'so God created man in his own image. in the image of God he created him. male and female he created them.'

and we know that his character is to be a CREATOR. if i was created to act, to engage, to live, like God, then part of that means that i was created to CREATE. which means you have been created to do the same. all of us have.

why does this matter to God?

we know that Gods entire nature is to give, to create, and to serve. we also know that the enemy entire nature is to take, to destroy, and to kill. the Saviour is a giver, the enemy is a taker. when we look back at genesis again, God creates man, and then GIVES them breath for their lungs, the garden, the earth, the animals, and dominion over all the earth. God creates and then gives.

on november 27th, pastor charlotte had an amazing message on this.

https://www.victorygp.com/media/48tpf4d/live-to-give-his-way-part-4

on top of all of this, Gods first command to man is to CREATE! be fruitful, He tells them.

paul also instructs us in ephesians 5:1 to be imitators of God.

there is a creative out-pour of producing, but there is also the basic 'i am not just destroying. i am not just consuming' version of producing.

as all of God's ideas do, this one also proves so true in the way humans live and act. whether we like to admit it or not, we enjoy work. humans need productivity and accomplishment.

men enjoy this feeling in a true work environment. they enjoy being able to provide for themselves, but even more so for their wives, and then family. so many cultural issues have crippled the masculinity of men the last decade, but covid came like a wrecking ball to mens inherent desire to work, provide, create, and initiate. putting men out of work and glorifying laziness and passiveness is such an insult to our design. while this kind of creating looks different than the typical artistic version, it is producing rather than consuming, so it is GOOD and healthy.

women enjoy the feeling of producing in work environments as well, but they also find this feeling in the work a home demands. the work of creating a beautiful, welcoming, edifying and open home. the work of creating healthy, filling meals, and conversation to fill the silence of a table. the work of throughly cleaning and reorganizing an entire floor of the home. the cultural repulsion of women creating these beautiful things in a home is horrifying. what a gift we women have been given to find such joy in this.

this also ties into the conservative value of working, and working hard. conservatives have recognized that, christian or not, humans want to work. humans need to work. and work is producing. work is creating.

i often catch myself accidentally sliding down the slippery slope of 'sloth'. (as my only idol, candace owens, would say) entire days, weeks, maybe months pass by unproductive, and i have created nothing. this is against the grain of my design.

there must be a constant out-pour of what has been given to us. every single breath we take is confirmation that we have more to create. we have more to give. we have more to bless others with. this is why, when i go extended periods of time just consuming consuming consuming, i feel gross.

this feeling makes sense- when you are not operating in the way you were created to live, there is an overwhelming emptiness, or uncomfortability. uneasiness.

so i am committing to creating this year. i am going to create music, videos, friendships relationships, gatherings, art, podcasts, community, writings, and i am going to create a person that looks like Jesus.

unable to do it on my own, only through the pursuit of God and the filling of Holy Spirit, i will create a person that looks more like Jesus. the greatest thing any of us could pursue to have created in our lives.

(no pregnancy jokes, i am talking about myself- lol)

if in all of this reading you take anything out, i hope it is this- be a producer, an initiator, a creator, a giver, rather than a taker, a thief, a destroyer, a consumer. we were created for more. the latter is not our design.

what have you created this week? what have you given this week? truly it could be as simple as your time for another person. but i do encourage you to create this next week.

i suppose i'll be writing a lot more now that i have made this my goal, so im sure you will hear from this blog sooner than next year;)

go create something !!

maya alejandra