I don’t need to have it all figured out. I don’t need to put off writing until my incoherent mess of thoughts miraculously falls into place. My writing doesn’t need to be pretty or eloquent. I don’t need to wait to encourage or exhort others until my life is in spic-and-span order. I don’t need to only blog on topics that I am familiar with, or issues that I fully understand, or struggles that I have overcome.
Writing doesn’t come with qualifications. Sometimes, you need to just sit down and write, even if you don’t know what words are supposed to – or will – come out.
It was a podcast by John Piper (“Don’t Conversations Illuminate Truth, Too?” Ask Pastor John, #613) that brought me to this realization. So often I am discouraged from writing because my thoughts are in such a chaotic tangle in my mind and I’m not even sure what exactly I want to say. But, as John Piper reminds us in this podcast, writing is the key to untangling that thread. We learn so much simply in the process of writing. At the very least, it is an effective way to put your thoughts down in a physical form that can be organized and refined. Because we all know that mulling something over in your mind is not an effective method to organizing and processing thoughts.
“The confusion you feel over what you are supposed to say or want to say will not go away until you try to say it. Don’t let your confusion over what to write keep you from writing.” -John Piper
The other thing that frequently holds me back from writing is my own imperfection. I fall short in so many ways, and I almost feel as though I don’t have ‘any place’ encouraging others to improve or change aspects of their life unless / until I have it all together for myself. I can’t stress the importance of prayer to my blog following because my prayer life is so feeble right now. I can’t encourage people to have good relationships with their siblings because I can hardly stand to be around my own. You see where I’m going with this.
But I’m realizing that this isn’t the case. If we never exhort one another until we have mastered any given area of life, then it’s never going to happen because we are never going to attain perfection (in this life). True, the more knowledge and experience you have the more effective an example you can be, but there is a place for those who are still in the early stages of learning. We are all called to “encourage one another”.
By blogging, not only do I get to process my thoughts on a certain subject and encourage / exhort others to do the same, but I also am holding myself accountable. If I tell the online world that I am going to work on a certain area of my life, then I am held doubly accountable to do so. It is an encouragement and reminder to continue striving to be more like Christ.
I want to always be real. Sincere. Honest. Raw. About the good, the bad, and the ugly. I want to be relatable. I want people to be blessed through me, in whatever way God might choose – through my failures, my successes, my struggles, my random thoughts, my relationship with Him. I want to learn and grow, and share what I’m learning with others. I want to write beautiful things that will inspire people. I want to have the strength to be transparent, in hopes of encouraging someone who might be fighting a similar battle. I want to live boldly in delight of Christ. I want to be passionate, and I want that passion to be contagious. I want to learn the art of living for others, rather than myself. I want to fight the good fight, live wholly for Christ, and have my life be an encouragement to people when I can show them how far I’ve come. How far He’s brought me.
Honestly... that pretty much sums up all I want in life. I want to live for God, the glory of His name, and I want to live it well.
I believe that my love and passion for writing is a gift from God, and as such, I want to use it to the fullest. Now, unprepared though I may feel. As Lemony Snicket so rightly put it, “If we wait until we’re ready, we’ll be waiting the rest of our lives.”
I have a long list of blog posts that I will steadily be working away at. By God’s grace, you’ll hopefully be hearing from me soon. :)
~Riah
