It’s often easy to overlook that fact that the Bible actually has a lot to say about the stewardship of the planet. Genesis 2:15 presents a clear picture of what and how we should be treating the environment.
God placed humans in the garden “to till it and keep it.” Work and care go hand in hand and this definitely leans into “caretaker” than “exploiter”. The verse describes the responsibility that it is to tend and care. Humans were placed within creation, not above it, and our task is to serve its ongoing nourishment.
Stewardship in this sense is not abstract. It concerns land, water, food, and the patterns of daily life. It requires faith that God’s design is good and that our role is to align our actions with that design.
When you read Genesis 2:15, we are reminded that faith is lived in physical space. We all breathe air, consume resources, and generate waste. Our discipleship is not confined to prayer or church attendance, it also includes how we inhabit the world God has made. The command to keep the garden assumes that neglect and misuse are possible.
I often reflect on the fact that creation care and enjoyment of the amazing natural resources we have access to walk through and simply enjoy are easy to understand, at least for me, as worship.
Worship is not only something we do on Sunday, it’s the offering of our whole selves to God. If the earth belongs to God, then how we treat it reflects what we believe about God. When we reduce harm, conserve resources, or protect habitats, we are acting in line with God’s intention for creation, we are acknowledging that the world is not disposable.
In worship we declare God’s worth. In caring for creation we enact that declaration. We treat what God has made as valuable because God has called it good. Genesis 1 repeats that verdict over land, sea, plants, animals, and humanity. Nothing in that chapter suggests that creation’s value depends on its usefulness to humanity. When you protect ecosystems or limit consumption, you affirm that value in practice.
This perspective also reshapes how we think about “dominion”. Genesis 1 speaks of human rule, but Genesis 2 clarifies its character. Rule is exercised through service. Authority is expressed through care. If we lead a household, a business, or a church, the pattern is the same. Leadership under God does not excuse damage. It seeks the wellbeing of what is entrusted to us.
Caring for creation as an act and expression of our faith also requires honesty about habits. Many environmental problems are linked to ordinary choices – energy use, transport, food, clothing, and waste. It is easy to see these as neutral or inevitable. Genesis 2:15 invites us to reconsider this: We have been placed in a garden, and our routines either cultivate or erode that garden.
Small lifestyle changes can become spiritual acts when they are offered to God. Choosing to waste less food can be an expression of gratitude for provision. Reducing unnecessary purchases can be a way of resisting excess. Walking or using public transport when possible can reflect a desire to limit harm. These actions may seem minor, but they train us to see the world as gift rather than commodity.
Prayer also shapes this work. When we pray for daily bread, we acknowledge the dependence on soil, rain, and labour to produce our daily bread. When we give thanks for meals, we recognise the network of life that sustains what we have on the table to share. Prayer connects our table to the land, and reminds us that creation is not background scenery but the context of our very existence.
Church communities can embody this calling together. Congregations can reduce waste at events, audit energy use in buildings, and teach about stewardship from Scripture. They can partner with local environmental groups or care for shared spaces. These actions are not distractions they express the gospel’s scope. It’s sometimes easy to forget that God’s redemptive purpose includes the material world.
Caring for creation also relates to justice. Environmental degradation often affects those with fewer resources. When land is polluted or climate patterns shift, vulnerable communities bear the cost. Stewardship also intersects with love of neighbour. Our choices can either contribute to harm or seek the good of others. Faith calls us constantly to consider these connections.
Genesis 2:15 does not offer a detailed environmental policy. It offers a theological foundation that we are placed in a world that belongs to God that we are commanded to work and to keep.
If you view creation care as worship, our motivation can shift. By responding to God’s call we are aligning our lives with the Creator’s intent. The garden entrusted to us may be small, your backyard, your street, your workplace, but faithfulness in these spaces matter.
Caring for creation as an act of faith asks us to see our surroundings through the lens of Scripture and to recognise that tending and keeping are ongoing tasks. It invites us to treat the earth not as a possession but as a trust. In doing so, we honour the One who placed us in the garden and called it good.
