Writing advice from Oswald Chambers...

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I don’t know about you, but for me, it is very hard to resist a secondhand bookstore! I love the possibility of finding a rare or out-of-print treasure to add to my ever-growing collection of books.

One such a treasure caught my attention on the crowded shelf of a charming little bookstore located in a small coastal village. It was My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers.

Chambers was born in 1874, in Scotland, and was converted to Christianity under the ministry of another great legend, Charles Spurgeon.
With his exceptional mind and an intense love for Jesus Christ and for people, Oswald Chambers had conducted several outstanding Bible teaching ministries in the USA, UK and Japan. He also ministered as a YMCA chaplain to Australian and New Zealand troops in Egypt during World War I.

Although more than thirty titles bear his name, My Utmost for His Highest remained his best-known book. What a find!

True to his reputation, and not disappointing my expectations, every devotion so far has been bursting with solid, deep Biblical truths.

But, I did not expect to find a piece of valuable writing advice in there!  

Yes, writing advice. There, mentioned by the way, at the end of a devotion, he had stated the following:

“The author who benefits you most is not the one who tells you something you did not know before, but the one who gives expression to the truth that has been dumbly struggling in you for utterance.”

Read that again… slowly…

Did you get that? Oswald Chambers had managed to define the ultimate purpose of a writer!

Our role is to express what the readers can’t. To put into words the thoughts and wonderings that’s been twirling around in their minds.

As Christian writers, we have a divine purpose to express the truths found in the heart of every human being about God and his Word.

Wow!

I will never question the value of my calling again.

And you, dear Christian writer reading this post, may you always remember that you have been given a very special talent.

Do your utmost for His Highest and don’t ever give up.

God bless
Madeleine
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

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