“Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” – Matthew 5:16
Have you wanted to start a blog, or write a book, but have a difficult time starting? I also have had a difficult time writing and blogging, and it’s not because I don’t love writing. Most of the time I don’t write, or at least I don’t publish what I write, because I fear what people will think. Just writing that down helps me to realize how silly that is. Anything motivated by fear is not usually good, unless we’re talking about reverence for God, or escaping danger.
Sometimes I think the danger we are escaping by not writing is the danger of tarnishing our reputation. I don’t think that is a completely crazy idea. In the Bible, Proverbs 22:1 says “A good reputation and respect are worth much more than silver and gold.” We ought to take seriously what we put permanently on the internet.
I started Adorn the Gospel because I blogged for years and changed so much over the years that I didn’t want to associate myself with all of my former writing.
And Proverbs 10:19 says, “When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.” There are many more Bible verses about being a person of few words.
Yet at the same time I can’t help but feeling that God designed many of us to write. There is so much joy in putting pen to paper (or hands to a keyboard), and every good gift is from God (James 1:17).
As Christians, we ought to have humility, and be careful about what we say. But at the same time, we also have the words of life, because of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). About this verse, John Piper has said, “when that river of blessing touches the heart of another person, then, and not until then, do we experience the climax of joy. Not until then is our deepest thirst quenched. So the sequence is: drink in Christ by faith, pour Christ out in praise and love, and never thirst again.“[1]
I had been thinking a lot about the verse in Matthew 5, which encourages us to let our light shine, and I had been thinking a lot about what that means, all the while wanting to write more publicly, and then it came across my Bible devotional app this morning. So I decided to let my light shine today, in hopes that I could encourage someone else to let their light shine as well. Christian, if you desire to write, put fears aside, and write to the glory of God.
[1] https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/rivers-from-the-heart emphasis mine
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