March 18

And by these, my son, be further warned: There is no end to the making of many books, and much study wearies the body. — Eccl 12:12 BSB

Someone who can write in a way that touches people’s hearts has a great opportunity to do good. There is a need for people who use their writing talents for God. But to write helpfully, one must first live victoriously. We often don’t realize the cost behind the encouragement and wisdom we gain from the books we read.

We enjoy the smooth, graceful words and receive inspiration, comfort, and strength from them. We rarely think about the writer’s struggles or the pain and loss they may have endured to be able to give us those helpful words.

The truth is, no meaningful lesson comes to us from someone else without that person having paid a price at some point. To write with hope, people must live deeply. We can’t teach lessons we haven’t learned, and those lessons are often learned in the school of suffering and experience.