One of the things that I’ve been trying to figure out recently is what to do with this blog. Part of the issue is that time to write for my own enjoyment is limited. The other is that the sermon-writing process is a creatively fulfilling act.

And yet...

I still have this impulse to write. It feels like an important thing to do. It’s something that I have always done in some way or other (just ask my parents).

So what is the motivation beneath the desire? At times I fear that it is pride. Pride is tricky. It can make you push yourself in front of people to be seen. But it can also make you want to hide so that people don’t think poorly of you.

To that end, here is a quote from an incredibly encouraging article I read this week. Sara Kyoungah White addresses these fears of mine in her article: A Litany of Humility for Writers | GCD.

We as writers—like our cousins the preachers and teachers—pray for Jesus to deliver us from the snares of desiring to be approved, honored, and extolled, and from the fear of being humiliated, ridiculed, and suspected (how well we know the contours of these words!). We pray that we can take criticism graciously and see each failure as an opportunity to grow in grace toward ourselves and others. Rather than engage in petty rivalries, we pray that we can raise up fellow writers and mutually support one another, not just in shallow shows of affection but with courage and depth and perseverance. We pray that we can outdo each other in love, considering others better than ourselves.

As I work to put what I learn day-by-day as a pastor into something useful here, I pray that these things would be my prayer as well.