The Ultimate Story

ACFWAdvice, Authors and writing, Encouragement, Friends of ACFW, writing 2 Comments

By Darlene L. Turner

Recently, my pastor did a series on evangelism and spoke on how we need to tell our stories to reach others for Christ. Our mandate is to go into the world and share the gospel. This made me think about why and what we write.

Sometimes I get caught up in the writing journey—the pitches, time spent writing, editing, marketing, social media, and the rejections. Is it worth it? This sermon series reminded me of why I write. Not for myself. Not to get ahead. Not even to get published.

What? Did you hear me correctly? Not to get published?

That’s right. We write to tell others the ultimate story of Jesus. Let’s take a closer look at the reasons we put words to the page.

Stories can persuade – In the Bible Jesus and his disciples used parables to teach and persuade. Stories can change lives. Yes, even fictional ones. Isn’t that why we write? To let God’s word reach those who may never enter a church or even think about God? When we write a powerful story, it can persuade others to think about faith and how God loves them. However, we mustn’t do it in a preachy way as that can turn readers off. Sharing Christ in our books through love is the only way.

Effective words – Writers labor over every word. They’re important and we need to choose the right ones. We shouldn’t rush these stories just to get them to market. Taking our time to write effectively, using the best words and sentences is important. How about we pray over them and let God give us his words?

No one knows our story better than us – We go through many journeys in life that teaches us valuable lessons. These are gifts from God and we can write about them, deepening the story. It’s our duty to share these experiences with others. Who would tell it if we quit? God wants us to write His story through ours. There are many hurting people out there who could relate to what we’ve gone through, so why not write about them? Use personal situations and incorporate them into our manuscripts. When we do, readers will be able to relate and be encouraged.

The ultimate story – I left this point to the last as I feel it’s the most important. The gospel of Christ is why we write, isn’t it? We need to use our books to tell THE story. Jesus loves us and paid the highest cost. Faith-based novels should reflect and connect to his story. We can emulate the gospel and bring it to life in order to evangelize. After all, the ultimate story is what we live for.

Let’s use our words to share Christ.

How can we share our journeys as we write?

 Why do we write? @darlenelturner #ACFWBlogs #amwriting http://www.acfw.com/blog Click To Tweet

Darlene L. Turner writes romantic suspense and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray. She was a finalist in the 2018 ACFW Genesis contest and won in 2017, was a finalist in the 2017 Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense and won in 2016. She lives with her husband Jeff in the Forest City of London, Ontario. Visit Darlene at www.darlenelturner.com where she believes there’s suspense beyond borders.

 

 

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