Have you ever been going through life and thought “Ohhhhh, I shouldn’t say this” then proceeded to say it anyway?
Have you ever held your tongue and wanted to get yourself a hi-five for doing so? But you have to give yourself the hi-five because if you let anyone in on your success it would defeat the purpose.
This blog is simultaneously me giving myself a hi-five and giving you an inside peek at the blog writing process.
The Idea
Every blog begins with an idea, or 5, and these ideas can come from anywhere. Interesting stories or events, people’s stories, testimonies of the Spirit’s power, or just a cool street vendor. I don’t write about street vendors anymore because those stories normally conclude with Cipro and a 3 day bout of diarrhea.
Here’s an important part. You don’t want to be one of “those” people. You know, the blogging equivalent of the incessant “tweeter”, so keep your brain vomit to a minimum, normally choosing no more than one per week. Keep your best stories saved for the next step.
What’s the motive?
Where did the idea come from and why do I want to write about it? This question eliminates 90% of my blogging ideas. Some good questions I ask myself are the following:
WWJW- What Would Jesus Write? Seriously though, what is the expected outcome of my blog? Will it bring about love, joy, peace, etc? Will it bring backlash and disunity? Regardless whether it’s true or not, if the expected audience will react negatively to it, chances are I need to add a little more love to the topic, or save it for a later date.
Is This Blog A Response To A Facebook Post? Is my blog a festering, long-winded, and scathing reply to someone’s Facebook post? Most of my blogs don’t make it through this filter. Words spoken by the mind can only inform another mind; words coming from the heart penetrate other’s hearts. As a Christian, my intent is to lead others to heart-transformation, and 99% of the time, an idea stemmed from a Facebook post does not come from the heart.
Is My Intent To Persuade? For me, this is a BIG one. I have the unique problem, as a male of the human species, of letting my pride do the writing for me. To avoid this, I normally write about my own struggles. Coincidentally, because I’m human, my struggles are relatable, and my blogs become persuading unintentionally; however, if my goal is to persuade, pride takes the keyboard and makes a mess of things.
Purpose
Although similar in terminology, this is distinct and radically different. This step MUST come after step two as it cannot work in reverse.
When I first got my website for blogging, I was humbled by the power. Every time I put pen to paper or finger to key, I have the opportunity to lead upwards of 500 people into a closer relationship with God, or destroy my relationship with them. It is a sobering power, but one that Jesus calls us to bear with authority. Powers of darkness tremble when a man or woman steps into the realization of their authority, and that is something severely lacking in this world.
We are called to walk a fine line of exhortation. To speak the truth, coupled in perfect balance with love. This is why we must weed out anything written with the wrong motive. If we let anything leave our minds that is unbalanced in the truthlove spectrum, the results are catastrophic and results in what we see in the world today.
Do not reign in your truth, but make sure that the power of your truth is coupled with the intensity of your love. With this two edged sword, write exhortations, encouragement, confessions, and stories that lead, encourage, relate, and connect.
Don’t Fear Failure
I’ve learned this from 9 months on the missions field. I’ve written many blogs with the wrong intention that hurt and mislead, but that’s ok. Jesus redeems, so don’t let the prospect of failure slow your process of growth. Although this was written with the intention of blogging, keeping these tools in the back of my mind has helped my verbal communication with others as well.
Asking myself “What is the motivation for my words?” has stopped many intentional and unintentionally hurtful words from spewing from my mouth. But once my words have been filtered by the Spirit, the love of God couples with them and results in powerful, Spirit driven conversation.
I have a vast amount of unwritten blogs. Many more than I have published. Do I wish I had never written those blogs? Absolutely not! I am thankful that I didn’t publish them because then people would see how truly hypocritical and unloving I am, but writing them has allowed me to see that in myself. If I write a blog and feel a check in my spirit, I wait to publish it. A few days later, I will read it again through the filter of the Spirit, thank God that I didn’t publish it, and learn from my mistakes. If I never wrote them, I would never have learned where I needed to grow, so by all means, write!
You have a powerful weapon in your hand. Be careful how you use it, but use it you must!
