Meeting next Saturday

our next meeting:

SATURDAY, october 5, 10 AM - NOON

Cornerstone Christian Church, Wyckoff 

In the Barn (2nd building on the right)

Don't walk your writing journey alone. Join us for encouragement, tips, and conversation, wherever you are on the writing road.

Members, please bring work for critique, as per the guidelines on our website.

Hope to see you Saturday,
Barbara
barbarahigbyhope.com

September's Focus Point

Putting forth Effort 

In his second letter, the first chapter, Peter tells us that we can share Jesus’ divine nature. This nature is a gift that increases by knowing Him. He is the Giver; we are His cooperative followers. Peter clarifies our part: we are to make every effort to add godly virtues to our lives. Paraphrasing verses 5-7, He wrote

Because His divine nature is available to you… make every effort to add to your faith goodness… knowledge… self-control… perseverance… godliness… brotherly kindness… love.

Let’s look at what these seven qualities mean as Christian writers and how we reflect them in our writing. Goodness and godliness are obvious—as God-followers, we don’t glorify cruelty and evil, but promote righteousness in our writing. We commend kindness and love—we don’t write from vindictiveness or a mean spirit. The three remaining qualities, however, require us to “make every effort” as we include them in our writing.

• Knowledge – We research and read up on our topics, facts, and references. We discuss ideas and interview others. We cannot write recklessly or off the cuff—we are called to excellence.
• Self-control – We each know we need discipline to actually get our ideas on paper. This is why we share our goals and progress at our meetings. It is why we encourage each other to stay focused and remember our purpose.
• Perseverance – We keep on when writing is difficult, whether from complications in our personal lives, discouragement in our writing, lack of clarity, writer’s block, rejection letters…

Peter assures us in verse 8 that if we possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep us from being ineffective and unproductive in our “knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We don’t want to be ineffective or unproductive in our faith, nor do we want to be ineffective or unproductive in our writing.

Takeaway: God has saved us, given us His divine nature, and gifted us to write. Let’s “make every effort” to be effective and productive as we grow in knowledge, self-control, and perseverance.