The Secret Sin of Writers

by Lori Hatcher 
Want to know a secret? 
There’s a part of the writing life that scares me. I’m more afraid of it than a bad review, a manuscript rejection, or a book that doesn’t earn out its advance. 
One of my greatest fears as a writer is a teeny little one-syllable word called pride.
You may be tempted to scroll on because pride hasn’t been on your Top Ten list of sins. What do I have to be prideful about, you think. I’m not a NY Times Bestselling author. I haven’t won any major book awards. Shoot, I can’t even get an article published. What’s to be prideful about?
Pride Is Sneaky
But pride is sneaky. “Successful” writers struggle with it, but so do “unsuccessful” ones. We can “fail” as a writer and still battle pride.
Pride says, “God could never use me to write anything useful. When He was handing out gifts, I got the leftovers.”
Pride says, “I work harder than he does. Why does he get all the breaks?”
Pride says, “Why did her devotion get published and mine didn’t? I write as well as she does.” 
Pride comes to the multi-published and the unpublished. To the veteran and the novice. To the spiritually mature and the new believer.
What Scares Me Most
What scares me most about pride is that God hates it. 
“The lord detests all the proud of heart,” Solomon wrote (Proverbs 16:5).
Pride is a glory-stealer, taking the crown of praise and honor that rightfully belongs to God and strutting about with it on our unworthy heads.
Pride is the sin of King Nebuchadnezzar, who looked at all God had allowed him to accomplish and failed to give Him glory (Daniel 4:30).
God not only hates pride, He pledges to oppose the proud (James 4:6).
We don’t ever want God to oppose us.
We need Him for every inspiring word, clever phrase, and open door. We need Him for the life and breath in our bodies and the ability to put words on the page. We need Him to teach us, provide for us, and multiply our feeble efforts. 
More than anything, we want Him to be pleased with us. Whether we’re multi-published or unpublished, famous or obscure, we want to honor Him with every word we type so that when we stand before Him in heaven, we’ll hear Him say, “Well done.”
How Do We Guard Our Hearts from Pride?
First, we acknowledge (and continue to acknowledge) that every ability we have and every opportunity that comes our way comes from God. If we think we did it, we’ll be tempted to steal God’s glory. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” (1 Corinthians 4:7). We have nothing to brag about.Second, whenever a prideful thought arises in our heart, we must immediately confess and forsake it. First John 1:9 provides the way of escape: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”Third, when praise comes our way, we must lay it at the feet of Jesus. Avoiding false humility (which is another form of pride), we can acknowledge that God chose to use us while recognizing that without His empowering, our words would be empty. One of my favorite responses to kind readers who thank me for my work is, “I’m so glad my simple words and God’s great Word has ministered to your heart.” I’ve heard another author say, “Isn’t it amazing what God can do when we surrender our writing to Him?”Finally, (and this is not an exhaustive list), we can look for ways to build others up in their calling and writing journey. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit,” Paul wrote, “Rather, in humility value others above yourselves” (Philippians 2:3).
When we humble ourselves before the Lord, (have an accurate and biblical view of ourselves and Him), He will lift us up (James 4:10). 
And His praise will be more valuable than anything this world can bestow upon us.
If this is the desire of your heart, join me (and Selah) in singing our commitment to Him.
And if you’d like to add to the conversation, please share your thoughts on pride and the writer and how you’re learning to avoid it.
LINK TO “I’d Rather Have Jesus” by Selah. It will work best by embedding it: https://youtu.be/eHnLEkfdEF0
TWEETABLEThe Secret Sin of Writers from author Lori Hatcher on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
Lori Hatcher loves to inspire and equip others by sharing high-impact stories for spiritual transformation. A popular women’s ministry speaker and writing/speaking instructor, Lori is an Advanced Communicator Gold and Advanced Leader Bronze with Toastmasters International. She writes for Our Daily Bread, Guideposts, Revive Our Hearts, and Crosswalk.com. Check out her latest devotional, A WORD FOR YOUR DAY: 66 DEVOTIONS TO REFRESH YOUR MIND, from Our Daily Bread Publishing. Connect with her at LORIHATCHER.COM or on FACEBOOK.