Hey, Visionaries! How are y'all today? I hope this post finds you well! Also, I wanted to say that if you have any topics you would like to know more about, please let me know, and I'll look at writing blog posts about them or finding someone who can write a blog post about the topic if I can't.
Alright, without further ado, a word on words!
Words are powerful weapons. Perhaps they are the best defense we have. God refers to Jesus as The Word of Life in John chapter 1.
Words are never just words, like stories are never just stories. Words have the potential to change so much. A word can change a person's day, a sentence can change their week, and a book can change their life. We absorb words like sponges, storing them away for the moments we need them.
You may wonder why I needed to do a whole post on this topic. Well, because I think we need to realize the power our words have. I don’t think we take seriously the responsibility we as writers hold. The weight of the future, in a sense, rests upon our shoulders.
Words are weapons, weapons that can be used in the service of our Lord to fight the encroaching darkness of our days. Words that can be used to light the way to hope, redemption, and the One who heals. But the enemy doesn’t want you to use your words for that. So he sets traps.
Words are pointless.
Doesn’t matter what the words are as long as the story sells.
What you read will not affect how you write.
That word’s not as bad as you think, it’s alright to use…
Little things we might say or use to fudge when writing. Little lies that render our weapons less powerful. Could someone be led to the Lord if a book contained language but was Christian, sure, if God willed it. Should we use language as Christians, I think not. But the enemy will try to tell us we’re only making it more realistic. If you want to be more realistic than mention the person swore or uttered a string of profanities, we don’t have to write them down, there is no need for that.
See, words are so small they are overlooked, but they are so mighty when strung together. Together they become weapons of destruction against the enemy, and that’s what he doesn’t want, so he will do anything in his power to stop you.
From trickery to people telling you your story is preachy. Personally, I don’t get the preachy part, are we not Christians? Did God not say to proclaim His name? Didn’t the book say it was Christian fiction? Why then do Christians complain about Christian content in a Christian Book? What’s wrong with that?
It convicts them. It makes them uneasy because God belongs in church. That is what our culture has tried to reduce the Almighty Father to, but it doesn’t work. Writers must push through and write what God has called them to write. You must worry about the words God has placed on your heart and craft the weapons He has given you. Don’t worry about the world and whether you’ll be too ‘preachy’ by their standards. His standards are all that matters.
So, if words are weapons, darts we fire into the heart of darkness. What do your weapons look like? Are they strong in the hands of their Maker? Or are they defective and touched with reluctance?
As you all know, words and stories and the power they hold is an extremely important topic to me, and I can't stress enough just how important they are. I hope you enjoyed this post and that it gave you pause, and you took something away from it.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Agreement 117%!
And yes, let them be preachy by all means. We need more "preachy" books out there.