Story Telling – Part 1

Creative writing isn’t a fad, it is a testimony. It can express a culture, a way of doing things, and a philosophy. The first thing to note is that everyone can write. Everyone has a story within their heart to express. This story can either glorify God or glorify man. People even write stories that glorify the devil. Those horror and violent stories express fear rather than faith. The design will be your choice and it will be the emphasis and the expression of your story. Stories are filled with words, they are filled with expressions. These words are as the Bible tells us in Proverbs 18:21,

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”

You need to remember the story you create will be a fruit, not only that you give to others, but one you will eat of, as well. You can write about things that uplift people or tear them down. The words you use will build or destroy. Your story will bring peace or torment, joy or grief. It will produce either life or death, freedom or bondage. It will magnify the problem or reveal the answer. You will always bring impartation. It will be built on either man made information and reason, or God designed truth. You can share a sad experience that never lifts others out of where they are and holds them in the grief and pain of the story, or you can bring life through your writing. Every story has a message. It has a philosophy. God’s word tells us in Colossians 2:8, that we are to,

“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”

First and foremost you have to choose to write according to God’s truth, values, holiness, and design. Every story we write should be rooted in Him, Colossians 2:7 makes it clear that we are to be,

“Rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.”

To find your story you must find your message. What is the Lord wanting you to express for Him? What is He wanting to say? Through your relationship with Him and through prayer, you can find His story and express the heart of the message. Remember, your creative writing isn’t meant to be about what you want to say, it is about what He, the Lord wants to say. You are His hands. You are the sower of the word, the sower of the story. The Holy Spirit will bring His design as you surrender in prayer and listen to the Lord to direct your writing. He will bring the increase as you write and He will bring the increase in the lives and hearts of those who read it.
Creativity is a gift from God to every person. It is designed by the Creator and His image is within you. People can use that design to express very inaccurate things contrary to God’s way of doing things or their creativity can explode with the life of the Creator Himself.

The next key to your writing is character. It can be the character of the piece, or the character you want to bring to the forefront of your story. It can be a composite of many characters. Whatever character(s), these should be an expression of your creativity foundational in God’s truth. As a Christian writer your main character should ‘always’ be the Lord, the Holy Spirit, the Father and His word. You should creatively have His character overshadow every situation, every challenge, every part of the story, and every character whether it is spoken or unspoken. Showing struggle won’t be a problem as you, the writer, reveal His truth within the fabric of the story itself, weaving the character of God throughout your message. His character must be expressed in your story bolder than any other. His character is built on His word and your story should establish His answer to every situation you write about, at some point within it.

Talent isn’t man made, it is God given, but you can develop your talents. You can develop your writing by something very simple, practice. You can limit your story to your understanding or you can do what the Lord tells us to do in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
He will direct the paths of your writing if you allow Him. You can read many stories and watch many media based projects that are creative but are void of His light. They are void of the Gospel, the power of God, His truth, His wisdom, and His way of doing things. As you surrender to His understanding, you can write and design your story with His light shining through, giving your creativity to the purpose of the Creator. As you surrender to Him in your writing, the author of your story can sincerely be the Creator of all things.