Seeing the Right Thing with Writing

by Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod

Seeing the right thing in life and with our writing doesn’t always come easy. 

I had taught her throughout middle school and, years before, her siblings. This younger sibling, however, differed from her older siblings. They were attentive; she hated school, loved to talk, and enjoyed testing the rules. 

On our last week of school before Christmas break, I performed my usual ritual: I showed the 1984 version of A Christmas Carol. 

The pivotal part of the movie comes when Ebenezer Scrooge’s dead partner visits him as a ghost. He wears chains with money-changing boxes dispersed throughout. His famous dialogue with Scrooge includes the sentence, “Mankind was my business.” Then he explains to Scrooge how he spent his time in their money-changing hole when he should have taken more time for others. He should have shown love, but he was too busy. So now, he must wear the chains as punishment. 

In the middle of this profound—and spiritually provocative—speech, my young student asked, “Why is he blue?”—demonstrating how we can miss the essential things in life and our writing. Her statement revealed what Scrooge’s partner said at that moment. 

Jesus illustrated this same truth in different words: “Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be” (Luke 12:34 NLT). We give our attention to what we determine as important. 

And therein lies the challenge. Is what we see as crucial in our writing journey the same as what God sees? Missing the forest for the trees is easy, even without any help from others. But others in the writing world can positively and negatively influence what we view as critical. 

Jacob Marley nailed it: humanity is our business. Behind loving God with our entire beings, Jesus said we should love our neighbors as ourselves. Love God with our writing. Love ourselves through our writing. Love others with our writing. There it is—the order our lives should follow. 

I’m not one to make New Year’s resolutions—statistically, most are broken in short order—but I think considering questions that relate to our writing is wise. Questions such as

• Why do I write?
• Whom am I trying to influence?
• How am I attempting to further my writing career?
• Am I trusting God with my writing?
• How am I encouraging other writers?
• Have I accepted God’s path for my writing? 

Walking closely with God will help us see the right things at the right time. God’s Spirit will keep us on course with our writing because, left to ourselves, we’ll veer off every time. 

How can you do a better job of seeing the right things through your writing? 

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Seeing the Right Thing with Writing, insight from author Martin Wiles, @LinesFromGod on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Martin Wiles is the founder of Love Lines from God (WWW.LOVELINESFROMGOD.COM) and serves as Managing Editor for Christian Devotions and Directing Editor for VineWords. He has authored six books and has been published in numerous publications. His most recent book, DON'T JUST LIVE...REALLY LIVE, debuted in October of 2021. He is a freelance editor, English teacher, author, and pastor.

Featured Image: Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash