As author of inspirational fiction, specifically romance, I have tried with each novel to keep the plot, the themes, the imagery, and the dialogue acceptable to my readers. I truly have a heart to give my readers stories that, although tackling worldly problems, would leave them feeling inspired and enriched. “Better as a person after reading my stories than they were before reading them,” if you will.

And, in that vein, I have tried to keep God’s Word primary in my heart when I’m writing. Anyone who has knowledge of the Bible, probably knows the verse, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my Strength and my Redeemer.” With my whole heart, I want my novels to be a reflection of my obedience to this Old Testament prayer.

But, I think for the first time EVER, I was overwhelmed yesterday and today with how much input the Old Testament gives to this very topic… the words of my mouth (or in this case, the words of my keyboard).

As I sat yesterday in the worship service in my beloved church, one of our pastors was teaching us on the “WISDOM ON WORDS.”

Using Proverbs as his Scripture draw, he revealed to us that there are 150 verses in Proverbs (chapters 10 -30) that have to do with the words of our mouth (which reflect our hearts).

Not being one to spend my life observing RULES, I was completely melted in my spirit with the counsel in these chapters. It didn’t rant… it spoke truth about what a blessing kind, loving, truthful and encouraging words are, as opposed to the lips of lying, harshness, back-biting, and gossip. Even still I am going through all the verses, which I downloaded from my church website.

I am humbled by God’s Gracious counsel, which speaks directly to me. I want the words of both my mouth, AND the words of my novels to reflect Christ. Rather than turned off, my hope is that my readers will, in each and every novel, see Christ’s Unconditional Love come through. Even this one, which I am currently working on.

I even want to go a step further. I would ask humbly, that any brothers and sisters in Christ who read this blog post, will at least this once lift me up, asking the Lord to help me tell my stories with HIM in mind. And, that the words of my keyboard will reflect an author who stands amazed at God’s Grace in her life, and that He has done, and will continue to do a mighty work in her… in this case specifically… her WORDS!