If we accept God as creator, then we and all that is around us must be called creatures – that which is created. Everything from inanimate objects to plants, to animals, to we humans owes its existence to God the Creator. 

What does it mean to be a creature; what does our creatureliness entail? 

First and foremost, it requires us to recognize that there is a Power greater than ourselves. Because we did not, and cannot, create ourselves, something more powerful must be responsible for our existence. This recognition is foundational to the virtue of humility, which we will explore in the weeks to come. 

While we humans are creatures like everything else in the world, we have a distinction. The Book of Genesis tells us that we were created “in the image and likeness” of God. Nothing else in the universe can make that claim.

For centuries, theologians have discussed what this means, and among the explanations is that we are able to reason like God and we can exercise free will. We can choose how to act and what to pursue – but as creatures, we are also accountable to the Creator for what we do and the choices we make. God asks us to exercise humility when operating in the world.

This week, let us reflect on the responsibility we have to exercise humility as part of our creatureliness.