Motives for Writing

Authors write for many different reasons, but there are usually fewer for the Christian writer. Many of us feel that it's a gift from God and His calling on our lives. Writing becomes our ministry. With this in mind, let's take a closer look at some of the issues involved with this.

When God calls people, he has a specific purpose in mind, and our job is to fulfill that purpose. I'm almost certain all authors would love for their books to be best-sellers, but that might not be what God has in mind. He might want the books read by certain people who need the message they'll find there. I've had that happen with my books, and I'm sure it's happened many more times than I'm aware of.

God will also most likely grow the writer's faith along the way. This may be why they were called, or He may grow them while they achieve other goals, as well. It's easy for us to get caught up in the pressures and stress of the writing process, including promoting and marketing, so that we try to handle things on our own without surrendering it all to God. We know better.

We should measure success in biblical terms and not in the world's eyes. Jeremiah preached for forty years and only had one convert, his servant, but he was successful because he was obedient to God. As Christian writers, as long as we follow God's plans for us, we are successful, we are victorious!

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