Created to Play How Taking Hobbies Seriously Grows Us Spiritually What If You Saw Your Hobbies as a Form of Worship? Maybe you’re an athlete or collector, a chef or film critic, a painter or video gamer. Your hobbies aren’t arbitrary passions. The same God who formed your muscles and nervous system also formed the specific ways you love to play. He understands the delight you feel in your garden or your excitement as you open up a new board game. And he calls it good. We often view play as a distraction from life’s serious responsibilities, but in Created to Play , Brianna Lambert reveals the ways God blesses your hobbies and uses them to form and pull you into worship. Lambert explores ten different titles you may inhabit in your play: Beholder, Curator, Maker, Herald, Restorer, Connecter, Nourisher, Mover, Caretaker, and Historian. BRIANNA LAMBERT is a writer and author. Her articles and essays have appeared in Christianity Today , The Gospel Coalition , Common Good , and Mere Orthodoxy . Brianna also serves on staff at Gospel-Centered Discipleship and in the women’s ministry at her local church.
How Taking Hobbies Seriously Grows Us Spiritually
Created to Play
Brianna Lambert
May 19, 2026 192 pages, paperback, 978-1-5140-1150-8 5.5 x 8.5 inches, $18.99 REL012120 RELIGION / Christian Living / Spiritual Growth
Excerpt from the Introduction God created our hobbies for far richer purposes than these narrow perspectives. He created us to delight in play not in order to prove our worth but to humbly look upon his. We enjoy hobbies not to craft an identity but to remind ourselves of the ones we already hold as God’s children. When we hit the trails solely for the love of it, push our hands against a ball of clay, or spend an afternoon organizing a collection of playing cards, we’re stepping out of our work-oriented mindset and into a posture primed for worship. Because play isn’t about what we accomplish; it’s about who we become in the process.
SPIRITUAL GROWTH
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