Blog Post: The Divine Gift of a Pet
Have you ever looked into your pet’s eyes and just knew they were a gift from God, sent specifically to you for a reason? I often feel the same way with my own cats, they are constant reminders of God’s faithfulness in the way I care for them and in how they trust me in return. It’s in moments like these that I’m reminded how much animals can teach us about love, joy, and companionship. Our love for them becomes a picture of exactly how God sees us, with tenderness and delight. In many ways, our pets are living reflections of God’s care.
Being a “Kahu”
There’s a Hawaiian word for “pet owner” that holds a much deeper meaning than ownership. The word kahu carries the essence of being a guardian, an honored attendant, or a protector of that animal. It carries a deep spiritual meaning and the root of the Hawaiian word is also used to convey the same idea of a pastor who watches over a congregation as a flock. Being a kahu implies that person has been entrusted at a spiritual level of a safekeeping of a soul. (Reference here) In many ways, the word kahu describes God’s original design for His intended relationship between humans and animals.
God’s Original Design for Animals in Genesis
From the beginning, animals have been central to the relationship of mankind here on earth. In Genesis 1, God makes animals of all kinds, declaring them “good” and blessing them. (Genesis 1:21-25) After creating the animals, God then creates man. It is a verse most know well, God says “Let us make human being in our image, to be like us.” (Genesis 1:26 NLT) While there are deep theological implications of this part of the verse that I will not go into, the verse does not stop there and continues on, “they will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” Humanity’s first purpose was to reign over the animals. Part of what God was saying in this scripture is that as God’s image-bearers, humans were meant to demonstrate God’s nature of stewardship and care to the animals.
The interlinear Hebrew of Genesis 1:26 reveals deeper meaning into what Genesis 1:26 conveys. It directly translates the first part of the verse saying, “Let us make man in Our image according to Our likeness and let them rule.” To be in God’s likeness and image is to rule, specifically over all the kinds of animals. The Hebrew word “rule” means to have dominion or authority over someone or something. In this context, God asks humans to have dominion over the animals as He has dominion over us, which is actually benevolent oversight. God is not a harsh, demanding ruler but a gentle, kind, patient Father who serves us and loves us and wants the best for us. He asks that we demonstrate the same to the animals.
The True Gift Our Pets Give Us
This goes back to the same idea as being a kahu, to be a steward and protector of your pet. This is actually what God meant when he instructed man to “reign.” In light of this truth, our care for our pets becomes something more meaningful and something you may have already inherently felt. Of course, how easy is it to love our pets and take care of our pets. It is a natural and simple thing to do out of love. Through the act of loving them, we begin to understand what it feels like to love as God loves. Our pets are here to teach us about love and about God. By taking care of our pets, we participate in one of our divine purposes, which is to love God’s creatures by participating in His very nature.
When we care for our pets, we are not simply fulfilling a human desire for companionship; we are living out one of God’s first callings to humanity. To be a kahu is to step into God’s heart for creation. We are stepping into a call of divine stewardship, showing our animals the same gentleness and love that God extends toward us. In doing so, we become divine reflections of God’s image, teaching us what it is to be cared for by God and to offer that care out into the earth. That is the true gift our pets give us.
