Question 1

How can my imagination help me grow in my relationship with God?

Accepted Answer

Isaiah 51:1-3“Listen to me, all who hope for deliverance—all who seek the Lord! Consider the rock from which you were cut, the quarry from which you were mined. Yes, think about Abraham, your ancestor, and Sarah, who gave birth to your nation. Abraham was only one man when I called him. But when I blessed him, he became a great nation.” The Lord will comfort Israel again and have pity on her ruins. Her desert will blossom like Eden, her barren wilderness like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found there. Songs of thanksgiving will fill the air.Two of the disciplines that help us grow stronger in faith are a good memory and a holy imagination. God reminded his discouraged people that Abraham and Sarah were infertile, but God gave them a child. From them came a great nation. Faith grows when we remember God’s great acts recorded in the Scripture and across the ages (see Hebrews 11) and trust that God will continue to perform great acts for his people today and in the future. Cultivating a holy imagination means letting God’s promised hope of new and eternal life come alive in our minds. God promises to turn deserts into lush lands like the garden of Eden. Not only will barren places become fertile, but the curse of sin will be gone. Imagine a life without the curse, and have faith that it will happen. Such imaginative reflection can help your relationship with God to grow even stronger.

Question 2

Why do people have the ability to be imaginative?

Accepted Answer

Genesis 1:1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.Genesis 1:27God created human beings in his own image.Exodus 35:30-31Moses told the people of Israel, “The Lord has specifically chosen Bezalel . . . The Lord has filled Bezalel with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts.”Daniel 1:17God gave these four young men an unusual aptitude for understanding every aspect of literature and wisdom. And God gave Daniel the special ability to interpret the meanings of visions and dreams.God is creative, and he has made us in his image. God was able to imagine the heavens and earth and animals and humans and a relationship with us, and we are patterned after him. He has certainly instilled many imaginative and creative abilities within us. Since God is the ultimate Creator, he is the source of our creative gifts. We can use our imaginations to create beautiful paintings, design buildings, write life-changing songs, or revolutionize how others think about God—all activities that express our gratitude and praise to the Creator.

Question 3

In what ways can the imagination be destructive?

Accepted Answer

Genesis 6:5-6The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart.Genesis 11:4-6Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.” But the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building. “Look!” he said. “The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them!”Isaiah 55:8“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.”Romans 1:30They invent new ways of sinning.Romans 8:5-6Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.The verses from Genesis 11 demonstrate the power of the human imagination. While the tower these people imagined was conceived out of pride, their ability to design and construct it demonstrate the ability of humans to imagine new ideas and implement them. The human imagination is powerful, but it is also limited and can be easily hijacked for sinful purposes. Our imagination, because it is connected to our thought life, is controlled by whatever controls our thoughts. When selfish desires and sinful pleasures control our minds, our imaginations become tools of destruction, producing lustful fantasies or meaningless daydreams. But when our thoughts are controlled by God, our imaginations are inspired by his creative nature and become tools of godly innovation and vision.

Imagination