This post was originally a response to a writing prompt: “Why do you blog?”  This is a great question, because I shouldn’t be spending so much time on this blog without good reasons!  But first, a broader question is: “Why write at all?”  After that, choosing to blog is a second issue.

Why I write
First, we are made to be creative.  We are not random accidents with no creator and no purpose.  Before man existed, the Bible describes God Himself as creative, taking a universe that was “without form and void”[1] and making it into something orderly.  Then He put mankind in a garden, which was meant as a model for what we should turn the rest of the world into.  Writing is a way to take formless ideas and turn them into something orderly.  Creativity goes beyond what we typically consider art.  It is using our God-given abilities to make this world more like Paradise.

Second, we are told to “test the spirits to see whether they are from God.”[2]  Writing is a way to force myself to think through ideas I have or that I’ve come across.  Everyone has in their conscience a variety of voices, or influences, that they follow.  If we don’t take intentional time to consider why we believe what we believe and do what we do, we aren’t testing the spirits.  We’re just doing whatever seems to come naturally, which isn’t the best approach.

Lastly, I write because I enjoy it and want to get better at it.  Saint Augustine wrote: “I endeavor to be one of those who write because they have made some progress, and who, by means of writing, make further progress.”

Why I blog
Many people write things and keep them private, and I also keep some of what I write private, but the only way writing can be useful to others is to write publicly, and blogs are about as public as it gets – I don’t filter who reads these.  It also forces me to put things in a more “final” form than I otherwise might, thinking things through more thoroughly.

Christianity includes “speaking the truth in love.”[3]  If I’ve found something truthful and beneficial to me, it could be beneficial to someone else, and I should share it.  My writing motto is to be compelling and clear, but most of all charitable, meaning written for the benefit of the audience.  Hopefully what I write here is worthwhile to others!

When writing, I keep in mind:

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” – Colossians 3:23-24

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[1] Genesis 1:2
[2] 1 John 4:1
[3] Ephesians 4:15