4 Reasons God Created Pets

Have you ever wondered why God created our pets? They were no accident!

Companionship

The longer I have lived with my pets, the more I see the reasons why God created them. Evolution would make our precious pets, “random accidents brought about by millions of years in time and chance,” but we know better. It is God Who created these precious pets of ours, and it was no accident. He was intentional in creating them. I can’t see them as an “accident” but as being part of God’s divine providence. If these pets of ours are accidents of evolution, then how do genetic mutations create the love our pets have for us? Is that an accident too? Is their love simply chemical reactions and nothing more? No, love is from God, and these precious pets of ours were made for us; they were made for our companionship. When an elderly lady in our church lost her husband, all she had left at home was her pet dog named “Frumpy,” and this dog has given this lady companionship for the last 7 years (until Frumpy passed away), and when she lost her dog, she took it very, very hard because she had lost her companion of 17 years, and it left a big hold in her heart. It wasn’t long before she joined her husband in glory.

Unconditional Love

When we get home from a hard day’s work or we’ve had a bad day at home, our pets don’t seem to care. They treat us as if their love never diminishes, and it doesn’t. Even though we have our ups and downs, they are always there to love us, consistently and unconditionally. They don’t care if your hair’s not combed, you need a shave or you’re still in your pajamas. They love you no matter what. What I love about the pets we love, and the love they give us, is that their love isn’t dependent upon outside circumstances. They don’t care if you got fired, they still love you. It doesn’t matter to them if you’ve gotten in trouble. They love you just the same. If people could love others like they love their pets, the world would be a much better place. Sadly, some wished that their spouse/parent/friend would talk to them and treat them and cuddle them like they do their pets. Maybe that’s why children love pets so much. If they don’t get love the love they need from their parents, they’ll have no trouble finding love from their pets, and that’s a love that is unconditional, which by the way, is an attribute of God.

Someone to Love

I remember taking psychology in college, and in our child development classes, they showed that children can actually die from a lack of love. When they tried to discover what was happening in a Romanian orphanage, where young infants and toddlers were dying, they had some medical staff go through the orphanage to try and find out why these children were dying. When they spent time with the children, the discovered that they rapidly improved. It seemed that human contact was enough to at least keep them alive, and the more the staff that came into contact with the children, the lower the mortality rate was. What was wrong? These children needed to be picked up, cuddled, nurtured, and loved. That’s something that is a basic need for all people, young and old, so their conclusion was: People can die from a lack of attention, contact, and especially, from a lack of love. That’s where pets come in. Sometimes when all we have left is our pets, then we at least have someone to love. It’s not just important to be loved…but to give love. The giving and receiving of love is one of the few things where there will always be room for more. People get full stomachs and can’t eat another bite. They get tired where they can’t even lift a finger, but the heart has an unlimited capacity to love. We can love one or we can love 100. There is always more room in our hearts to love more. On the other hand, there is little capacity for not being loved.

Showing Your Love

I touched on this earlier when I was writing about children and pets. If a pet has an owner that cares for them and loves them, then pets can sometimes live upwards of 15 to 20 years…some even longer. And when we care for our pets or animals, we are pleasing God, because His view on the care of animals is obvious in the Old Testament laws. The laws regarding the care of animals were always bent toward tender, loving care, and merciful treatment. Solomon wrote, “Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel” (Prov 12:10), so having regard is showing love. If you truly love your pets and care for your animals (livestock, or otherwise), you will be merciful in the way that you treat them. For example, you’ll have regard for them in the hot summers and cold winters. If you have a pet to love, you are blessed, but if you care for that pet in a merciful and caring manner, that pet’s actually blessed (even though they don’t know it), and you are pleasing God when you take good care of your pets and animals, but to be sure, love is shown by action more than words.

Conclusion

People sometimes take their day out on their pets instead of allowing their pets to take their day out of them. It’s a win-win for owners and pets when they love one another. Petting a dog or cat lowers stress hormone levels, lowers blood pressure, raises the good cholesterol levels (HDL), boosts the immune system, and reduces inflammation. It’s not only good for us physically to love and to be loved, love is a two-way street. It is mutually beneficial and essential to our wellbeing.

May God richly bless you

Pastor Jack Wellman

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