Writing Is a Joy—and a Discipline God Uses

Writing is a joy. When the ideas are coming and the words are flowing, minutes slide into hours and I am lost in the joy of expressing those ideas. My joy quotient rises considerably because of the awesome realization that I have the privilege of co-creating with God!

The more I write, the more I realize writing is also a discipline. God is in the business of character development. He wants believers to grow into the image of His Son.  (see Romans 8:29, and I John 3:2). That growing process requires discipline. For the Christian who loves to play with words, God uses the process of writing as discipline.

What does God seek to develop and deepen in His writers? I believe He wants to see such traits as: obedience, humility, patience, perseverance, self-control, and faith.

How does God use writing to discipline writers?

For one thing, God wants to see if I can be obedient to His will. Consider this: God’s places for my writing can be different than what I have in mind. He promotes some Christian writers to places where their work is seen and read by many people. Surely, God wants that for me, too. But God may say to me, “I need someone willing to write in this place over here for My Kingdom. The work will not be seen by many. Are you willing to be that writer for Me?”

Another way God deepens obedience is in what I write. I write devotionals, blog posts, and short stories. If God makes it plain that He wants me to write a novel—with no guarantee of publication—am I willing to try?

Humility is a trait the Lord lived out while He walked on this earth—in fact, even before He came to earth, He determined He would live here as a human being (see Philippians 2:5-8).  It’s a trait He wants His followers to show. I believe He uses my personal blog as a way to develop humility in me. One of my aims for the blog is to share writing that I believe is worth readers’ time. The blogging platform I use allows me to repost pieces from other blogs. Sometimes I re-blog posts that meet my aim of sharing good writing. Quite often, the re-blogged posts get more attention than my own. It takes humility to figuratively step aside and be glad for the bloggers. Humility allows me the joy of helping someone else get further along in his or her aims. Peace is my reward.

I often think of patience as gold in my pocket; it’s such a valuable trait to have. I believe God develops patience in writers through timing of publication. The first devotional I wrote was published by an international, interdenominational magazine. From the comments I read on the day the devotional appeared, it was evident that particular devotional was the one God wanted for that day. Since then, I have submitted six other devotionals to that publication; none have been accepted. For whatever reason, God says, “No”. God is using what can be a frustrating experience to deepen my patience level.

God wants to see perseverance in His workers. James says “Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:4 NIV) The whole process of writing requires perseverance, from start to finish. I need to persevere to learn craft, learn new technology, and learn the process of contacting publishers. I need to dig deep into perseverance to fight the moments of self-doubt, rejection from publishers, and the spiritual warfare from my enemy who does not want me to engage in this work.

God is giving me the chance to develop self-control when I interact with those who read my piece before publication. Beta readers, critique partners, agents, or editors can make suggestions or give criticism. These people want me to present the best work I can at that time. God is using their individual talents, skills, and experience to hone my work and my character. Exercising self-control, refusing to yield to the temptation to either get offended or become prideful,  allows me space to learn important points I might not learn any other way. It stretches my comfort zone, and helps me grow towards maturity.

Faith is required through the whole writing process. Faith begins inside the writer, as the person becomes aware God wants him to create by putting words down on paper or on a screen. Faith fuels the process as the writer takes the time, effort, and money needed to learn more about the craft, show work to others, and contact publishers. Faith allows the writer to trust God to provide the time and money to do the work.

In all these ways, God uses writing to discipline writers so they can grow in the image of Jesus.