What's Your Why? Embracing Your Calling as a Christian Writer
Discover your purpose, decide your motivation as a Christian Writer
Welcome to Monday Mo! 🚀 Each week, we kick off with a dose of motivation & momentum to keep you authoring more — for God’s glory and your neighbor’s gospel good. It’s a mix of quick wins, mindset shifts, and practical next steps for GospelWise authors to write, publish, and market their books. Whether you're launching, marketing, or simply staying faithful to your writing journey, this is your go-to boost to start the week with clarity and purpose.
Jeremy here, ready to share some motivation for your week as a Christian author. For the past year, I’ve been working on this CROSS + PEN project to craft resources, tools and training, to empower your GospelWise Author journey. At the start of 2025, and another month, I want to offer a bit of scripture wisdom and inspiration for your author vocation.
Beginning with a question: What’s your why?
Why are you doing this? Why are you embracing this calling? What’s your why?
Why do you sense this very specific vocation, whether it’s a paid thing with going freelance, or whether it’s sort of taking a hobbyist approach of just writing and putting stuff out there, or really jumping in with both feet into the business sense of writing, and publishing, and connecting your books to readers — why this sense of vocational calling?
The question was sparked in me a decade ago, and then again with an excellent book on the subject, Start With Why. The author, Simon Sinek, offers this wisdom for starting strong:
Very few people or companies can clearly articulate WHY they do WHAT they do. When I say WHY, I don’t mean to make money—that’s a result. By WHY I mean what is your purpose, cause or belief? WHY does your company exist? WHY do you get out of bed every morning? And WHY should anyone care?
How about you? What’s your why?
A crucial, convicting passage of Scripture from the book of Acts has helped me answer this question for myself, for my life and my author vocation. It’s become a life verse for me over the past decade, and I hope it gives you some guidance for your own journey.
This passage comes from Paul's journey as he prepared to leave the Church of Ephesus for Jerusalem. In this moment, Paul says something that resonates deeply with me, in Acts 20:24:
“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.”
This verse has been a guiding light for me, especially during challenging times.
Eleven years ago, around this time, I faced a life-altering diagnosis: thyroid cancer. I can still remember the moment I found that lump on my neck a few days before Christmas. It was a moment that shook my world. I received the call about my diagnosis while my wife and I were out shopping for baby clothes, preparing for our son’s arrival. The news was overwhelming, yet it forced me to reflect on my life and purpose.
In these sorts of chaotic moments, it’s often the perfect time to take stock of where we’re heading and what truly matters. Paul’s commitment to glorifying God and promoting human flourishing through the gospel became my own “why.” My life’s purpose crystalized into living well and working hard for the glory of God and the good of the world.
Life has a way of reminding us of our vulnerabilities. I was a pastor at the time, leading a church that was facing decline. As I navigated my health issues, I sensed that the Lord was moving me into a new season, one that involved stepping away from a pastoral role and embracing my calling as a full-time writer.
This transition was not easy, but it was necessary, and it forced me to engage this question for myself: What is my why? Why do I live the life I lead, and do the things I do, and pursue the things I pursue, and create the things I create?
As I reflect on my journey, I encourage you to think about your own “why.”
My encouragement to you as you step into your own sense of calling as a writer, as a Christian creative and GospelWise Author, is that you would understand your own sense of why to the core.
Why are you pursuing this calling as a writer? Again: What’s your why?
Whether it’s taking this verse as your life verse or your vocational verse, putting aside your own sense of self, disregarding your own life, and instead living well, working hard for the glory of God and good of the world — whether it’s taking that verse or finding your own verse, I would encourage you to anchor and define your own sense of why, especially using Scripture.
What is your own core to your calling as a Christian writer?
Whether you’re writing as a hobby or diving headfirst into publishing, understanding your core motivation is essential. I urge you to embrace the same mindset Paul had — to disregard your own life’s worth in favor of completing the task that God has set before you.
What is your unique mission as a Christian writer?
For me, it’s about testifying to the good news of God’s grace through storytelling. It’s about empowering fellow Christians to express their spiritual gifts and connect their passion projects to the world.
But I want you to identify your own mission and lean into that this year.
As we step into 2025, let’s take this opportunity to claim our sense of why.
What drives you? How can you use your writing to glorify God and impact the lives of others?
I encourage you to find your own life verse or perhaps adopt Acts 20:24 as a guiding principle. Reflect on what it means to consider your life worth nothing compared to the joy of fulfilling your calling.
As you embark on your writing journey this year, remember to live out that “why.” Whether you’re crafting stories, sharing insights, or encouraging others through your words, let your life reflect the grace of God. Wield the pen for the sake of the cross this 2025 — for the glory of God and your neighbor’s gospel good.
Let’s create for Christ together 🖊️
/ jeremy
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Hey there ! 👋 My passion is to empower Christian writers like you seeking guidance to wield the power of the pen for the sake of the cross through training + resources and coaching + guidance that upskill and inspire — empowering you to rock it with personal style + creative freedom.
Proud hubby + Dad 👨👩👧👦 Vintage jazz vinyl enthusiast 🎷 Apple fanboy before the cool kids were