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What’s Your End Game in Blogging?

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blogging

I did it. I took the plunge this summer and did the unthinkable in the blog world.

I STOPPED. I took a summer break, and only posted on contributor sites that I had committed to.

But my own space fell silent. Why? For a girl since her first grade journal that has always had “too much to say”, I felt somewhat overwhelmed by all of the noise online, the constant rat race of keeping with blogging tips and tricks, and what I felt like was “supposed to be said” and what blogging goals were “supposed to be met”.

And out of all of that confusion, the one thing that kept rolling around in my mind was this:

What’s your end game in blogging? What is the ultimate goal you hope to accomplish with this?

I have been blogging for six years, which in blogland is pretty much rights to earn an AARP card or a senior coffee at McDonald’s. While I am mostly an unknown in the online world, six years is a LONG time to commit to something without really knowing what your end game, or ultimate goal, may be.

For some it is selling a beautiful product, making extra income for your family, driving toward a book deal, or just getting the words out there for other people to read. Those are awesome end games. But there was still something missing for me.

But one day this summer, while my blog lay dormant and I sat on a porch chair, just rocking away, watching the kids play in the tall grass and yelling at the crows that are bent on feasting on our garden (told you I was like an old woman in a thirty-something’s body..) it hit me:

The goal? The END GAME for ALL bloggers and writers that are believers is the same:

THE GOSPEL. The goal is the GOSPEL.

The goal is the gospel if you are a writer, a doctor, a mother, a baker, a janitor, a soccer coach,  a chef.

The goal is the gospel if you are a missionary, a visionary, a secretary. A college student, a babysitter, a waitress. A cop, a firefighter, a construction worker.

For those who believe in the cause of Christ? The goal is the gospel.

We can write beautiful words all day long. We can share pinnable images, have posts go wild online because people see themselves in them, or sell a billion copies of an amazing book. And nothing is wrong with that. But if our ultimate “end game”, our ultimate goal is to make much of us and not much of Christ, than we have missed the entire point:

For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.  Galatians 1:10

My end game is the gospel. Finally, after six years, things are starting to make sense. And if you are reading this and not a believer? Let’s sit on those porch chairs and talk. I would love to share that end game with you.

Comments

  1. I love you. Thanks for this today! I’m on my own little break (which is AWESOME), and I needed to read this. 🙂 ((hugs))

    • Breaks are so good for the soul. It is a shame we can’t meet up for coffee and enjoy our breaks together!! 🙁 Love you!

  2. Thanks so much for this reminder. I think it is very easy to get caught up and forget what our purpose is on this earth. Psalm 150:6 has a way of drawing me back to why I am online. How I can share God’s love in all that I do.

  3. Yes! Ironically enough, I stopped worrying at all about blog numbers or the pressures of writing once I started my online business. I write as an outlet and to glorify God. I write to minister. Even if only to a handful or myself.

  5. Love this, Christie! It puts everything in perspective beautifully. “My end game is the Gospel” … suddenly every word we write or utter is meaningful and full of potential for His glory. I think I need to read this post at least once a week 🙂 Thanks SO much!

    • God grabbed my heart in a big way this summer. Praying I can continue that focus as the years continue!

  6. Love, love, love this! Isn’t this what our whole life should be? Our endgame for life? The Gospel? Yes! Think I need to print this as a reminder.

    • Took me a while to figure this out, haah! Glad the Lord directed my heart in this area!

  12. This is JUST what I needed to hear today, so relevant to conversations I am having with a few blogger friends. Thank you for the mental redirection

    • Don’t you love it when that happens? When you conversate with friends and the topic keeps coming up elsewhere? That’s my favorite. Glad we are on the same team!

    • Thanks for all the encouragement the past few weeks, Logan. Really grateful for you!

    • Love YOU Kris, and how you are a great example of a writer who drives home the word of God to your readers!

  16. Amen! Last year when others were writing their 31-day October posts, I took the month off. It was hard because I wanted to be part of the action… but it was good. So, so good.

    • SO true. Kudos to you, that is a difficult blog season to give up! But I bet what the Lord taught you in that time was so so sweet.

  17. Exactly!!! Love this post because I’ve taken a longggg break from blogging and have had the urge to start again every few months but it’s never felt like the time… My hesitation is always “whTs the purpose, and who is going to care what I have to say” but this is exactly the purpose… Using my motherhood and other experiences to point others to Christ (even if only 2 people read my blog).

    • Definitely!! And I’ve always been inspired by what you share online. Keep pointing to Christ. We’ll go at it together!

  18. I have spent the past six years learning to understand that my goal is truth. The gospel is truth. Jesus is truth. I truly see your vision, and I share it. One of my most important discoveries is that no matter how many or how few read my blog, I am writing in faithful obedience to my Lord. I don’t write because of response. I write in spite of response, because somewhere, somehow, somebody is supposed to read what I write. God gave me his message, and I cannot keep it to myself.

    • Oh my YES.

      “I don’t write because of response. I write in spite of response,
      because somewhere, somehow, somebody is supposed to read what I write”. Seriously, thank you for sharing that with me!!

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