A mission statement for my life and writing came to mind as I wrote in my journal one morning. For a while, I’ve wondered how to word my writerly purpose for my poetry and prose. Hints of a vision appeared whenever I succeeded at exercising the gift of encouragement God gave me. Since the Holy Spirit dwells in each believer, I trust my vision is from Him.
When I tapped into this grace-given gift, others were inspired to tap into a deeper faith in the Lord. This made sense to me since my tagline is: My faith is not shallow because I’ve been rescued from the deep.
But I wanted a specific tagline regarding the purpose of my work as an inspirational writer. An online writing course I took began with a challenge to formulate one. I struggled to create one and only managed to complete a jumble of jottings that didn’t satisfy my longing for a lovelier phrase.
During my quiet time a few days later, I came across the passage of Scripture the course referred to. It happened to be what was next for me to read and ponder. (Don’t you love it when the Holy Spirit does that?)
We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. Romans 12:6-8 (NIV)
Nothing gives me more joy than to encourage others in their faith.
Encouragement is the gift God gave me when I put my trust in Christ. If I neglect to exercise this gift in my writing, it feels like something’s missing. My words remain flat on the page and don’t lift others up.
My old Random House Dictionary (RHD) defines encourage as: “to inspire with courage or confidence.”
It defines courage as: “the ability to face difficulty or danger with firmness and without fear.”
The word overriding came to mind, so I looked it up too. RHD says it’s “taking precedence over all other considerations.”
Here are some ideas that shone forth as I pondered the gift of encouragement in the light of the RHD definitions:
- Encouraging confidence in Christ to live a courageous life of overriding faith.
- Facing our fears with overriding faith.
- Overcoming our fears with overriding faith.
When I considered these ideas with my tagline, I came up with: Inspiring deep faith that overrides our fears.
I don’t know what your gift is. Perhaps you already know and are practicing it through your writing. Maybe a session of looking up meaningful words in your dictionary may inspire a new mission statement for you too. After all, the Holy Spirit loves to inspire us.
I’m nosy-to-know which gift jumped off the page for you when you read Romans 12:6-8 (NIV)?
Let me know in the comments and I’ll compose a short prayer for you in my reply, praying that you tap into God’s grace to the fullest and share your gift as far and wide as God desires you to.
My desire is to encourage you by inspiring a deep faith that overrides our fears.
Faith Blessings ~ Wendy Mac
Wendy L. Macdonald is an inspirational blogger and podcaster who loves to photograph nature on Vancouver Island. Her byline is: “My faith is not shallow because I’ve been rescued from the deep.” Her main website is wendylmacdonald.com where she enjoys interacting with readers.
I always enjoy your positive attitude in both your posts and your comments, so I can definitely see the gift of encouragement at work, Wendy. When i read the passage you suggested, "teaching' always jumps at me, probably because i come from a long line of teachers and am a teacher by profession. I remember thinking after my first practicum that this was most definitely my line of work and I genuinely enjoyed my many years in the classroom. I know the verse is talking more about spiritual gifts, but i think it still applies.
ReplyDeleteThank you, dear Tracy. Your gift of teaching absolutely shines bright.
DeleteHere is my prayer for you: Dear Lord, continuing blessing Tracy with the faith feeding flow of Your gift of teaching in her writing and relationships. May Your wisdom and patience in her draw family, friends, and readers to know You more and trust You deeper than the day before.
Apart for a love for truth, I don't know what my gift would be.
ReplyDeleteBruce, I'm thinking that a love for Truth is the perfect prerequisite for teaching Truth. Your posts teach me about musicians and the universal truths all peoples have in common. Music is a wonderful way for values to be shared and encouraged in others. Maybe you are exercising the gift of teaching when you share music with us.
DeleteHere is my prayer for you:
Dear Lord, bless Bruce as he continues to love Your truth and share his love of music with readers. May what he teaches continue to draw us to love Your Truth deeper and appreciate more fully the importance of it in our lives.
Thanks for sharing your insights, Wendy. Your tagline is very inspiring and honest. I am not exactly sure what my gift is but I believe that God will enable me for any given moment if I am surrendered to him…..I hope.
ReplyDeleteSurrendered is a sweet spot to be in the eyes of the Lord. Much can be done there. I suspect you've given to others far more than you realize.
DeleteMay you be blessed with peace and courage to continue living a surrendered life for Christ.
Thanks for such an inspiring and challenging post, Wendy! Regarding the gifts, the Spirit is reminding me to do cheergully whatever He is currently calling me to do.
ReplyDeleteThank you, dear Sandi. A cheerful servant is a treasure in the eyes of God and a blessing to all who serve alongside her. Thank you for being such a gift to all of us.
DeleteWendy, I enjoyed your post. I admit to smiling when I read this line: "I struggled to create one and only managed to complete a jumble of jottings that didn’t satisfy my longing for a lovelier phrase." Oh yes, how many times have I created similar jumbles of jottings when I couldn't find a lovelier phrase for what I wanted to say. I have come to realize over the years, when my writing becomes a jumble, start over and just keep it simple. And wait for his timing, as you pointed out, for the right source, the right words to cross my path.
ReplyDeleteYou mention having great joy in encouraging others - I would say that is for me as well.
Thank you, dear Brenda. May God richly bless you with fresh inspiration to continue encouraging others in the way He has designed for you.
DeleteAmen to waiting for the Holy Spirit's guidance to edit our words according to His will. When we wait, He will show up and polish our words so they reflect His glory.
The gift that jumped out at me was 'encouragement.'
ReplyDeleteI love the tagline you came up with: "Inspiring deep faith that overrides our fears." That's the kind of faith we all need, including some of my own family members.
Thank you, dear Susan. May God bless you as you continue to encourage the body of Christ. And may you always tap into the overriding faith the Holy Spirit has available to all of us who trust in Jesus.
DeleteWe have faith because He is faithful. We're so blessed. :)