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Do You Have a Hyperactive Writer Conscience?

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I’m one of those people with a hyperactive conscience. Someone can look at me funny and I’ll say sorry. Therefore, I can go a little nutty trying to evaluate the motives of my heart in terms of writing. Yes, Jesus is the most important relationship in my life, followed by my husband and three beautiful children. But, writing is my calling. I’m finally able to settle into it, like a comfortable couch, finally able to embrace it.

Sometimes the Enemy of our souls would like to whisper condemnation in our ears with words like, “How do you know you’re doing this for Jesus? You’re just after the fame and glory.” And being humans, we listen to that voice, trying desperately to sift through it. For hyperactive conscience lady, that means I sift and resift, worrying I’m not truly living with eternal perspective.

I wished I realized sooner that all my wrestling about whether my writing motives were pure or not should have been left at the feet of Jesus. I’ve struggled with wondering if I loved writing too much. Would the Lord ask me to lay it down?

And one day, I had an amazing talk with a writer friend. She struggled with that very fear. She said, “I spent many days and weeks pouring through the Bible, seeking the Lord. I realized God brought all the men and women of faith on a journey and that He used every circumstance to culminate their ministry. He never told Moses, ‘OK, stop leading the people. You love it too much.’ Or to Joseph, ‘Yeah, I brought you through this time of desolation to a place of prominence. I’d like you to step down.'”

My friend continued, “If someone took out the writer part of my heart, part of my heart would be empty. I am a writer. It’s how God made me. He created my life and pointed me in this direction to serve Him as I write.”

Her words brought freedom. We can spend undo energy fretting about our motives, bearing a heavy yoke. Jesus beckons us to lay down our wrestling, to trust that the Spirit within us will check us if we are selfishly ambitious, and to write with vigor for His glory.

This world NEEDS your redemptive words. If you struggle constantly with whether your motives are correct, you’ll never release those words. So, relax. Trust the Spirit and write.

Comments

  1. This is really enlightening, Mary.  The interesting thing is I am such a small blogger that I wonder if anyone ever reads my writing, yet I feel CALLED to write.  Every time that I think about stopping, I get confirmation that I am SUPPOSED to write.  Now I struggle with figuring out what, how often, when…etc.

    Thanks so much for the encouraging words.

    Mary
    http://memyselfandmercy.blogspot.com/ 

  2. OH MY WORD how I needed to hear this!!! Thank you thank you thank you!!! I am not a great writer but I do love to write and I struggled with the very same thing!!! Praising Jesus for this message 🙂

  7. Wonderful words directed right at my heart today. Thanks for your wisdom.

    I find myself all too often getting ahead of God’s plans, as I race after the glory in the growing of rankings and followers. He regularly reminds me of what is truly important here. At that soft reprimand, I settle back into that oh so comfortable place, where  his words just flow through me and out onto the page like the refreshing waters of a mountain spring bubbling joyfully to the surface.

  8. I needed to hear this today, Mary. I question my calling almost daily because I want to measure the voracity of it on “big” results. Then I question my hearts because I wonder why I want to see “big” results. There is freedom in trusting our calling but bigger freedom in trusting the One who called.

  9. BINGO! 

    Couldn’t we apply this to every area of life? 

    “Maybe I shouldn’t serve my friend, I might want her approval.” “Maybe I shouldn’t share the gospel with this unbeliever, I might be seeking to convert for my own glory.” “Maybe I shouldn’t go to work this morning, I might say something hurtful to someone.”

    I struggle with this exact problem too, but stop at the failure. Thank you for encouraging me to push past the sinfulness that will always be present in one capacity or another, to fling wide the gates of His glory!

  13. Oh, finding you here, too! What a blessing! And these words speak directly to my heart. I am just beginning to embrace that I am a writer. Seriously, just this month. Although, the journey there has been much longer. Now, I am beginning to think of writing, not as something I have chosen for myself, but something God has called me to. In obedience, I answer the call, work hard, and trust God for the rest. 

    Thanks for sharing 🙂

  16. I’ve struggled with this too, and stumbled across this: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2012/07/17/the-fight-for-glory/ . I love the way John Piper put it “If the fight for my affection was going to be everywhere, I decided to
    fight in the place I loved. I love to write. I don’t know why, but I
    love it. So I am going to fight this war here.”
    So yeah, I with you, I want to trust the Spirit with in me and write “with vigor for His glory”
    Great thoughts!
    Amanda @ http://the-cadence.com

  18. ”
     ‘OK, stop leading the people. You love it too much.’”  Ha!  That is awesome.  What a great post, very encouraging. Thanks!

  20. “I am a writer. It’s how God made me. He created my life and pointed me in this direction to serve Him as I write.”  I may have to put this on my refrigerator and on my desk. Thank you! 

  22. Guess what Mary? God did it again. He used you and your gift and your willingness to put it out here like it is, to be the medicine for my “gotta-write-this-down-or-oh-my-goodness-I’m-going-to-explode!” little heart. I am a writer and I’ve hidden this little light o’mine under a bushel for way too long. God did this in us…it’s His to use until He pulls the plug. And so my prayer for you and for me and for anyone else struggling in these ways is “Soli Deo Gloria” …burn us up!

    Lorretta
    dancingonthedash@wordpress.com

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