
As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17 NIV
When I started writing I was told that everyone needs an editor. I did not like that idea. I didn’t want anyone interfering with the way I expressed myself. After all, that’s why I wrote, to express myself, like it or not.
My mind changed when I took up the assignment of writing devotionals for the local paper. Suddenly I felt responsible, to God and to others, to do things right. So I made a decision. I would submit every article I wrote to my husband for editing. And, I would accept all his corrections and advice.
Needless to say things got off to a rocky start. I could not believe how fiercely my husband edited my work. On at least one occasion he crossed out three-fourths of what I wrote. Three-fourths! Often he rejected my favorite and most clever sentences. I did break down and cry at times, but I did not argue. Why? I wanted to help people learn about God and I trusted my husband. He had wisdom. I had blind spots. I was in a habit of belaboring my points and being overdramatic or melodramatic. Sometimes I showed off with the way I worded things and tried to look smart or clever. I knew my husband was helping me mature as a writer. And because I accepted his correction and direction, I knew what I wrote carried more power and had a proper focus. I am so thankful for the help of someone who loved me, sharpened me, and helped fulfill God’s plan for me. I now strongly believe in editors. For writing, and for life.
The Apostle Paul wrote, “You show that you are a letter from Christ… written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” (2 Cor. 3:3 NIV). This verse is speaking to me a Christian. It’s telling me that I am a letter from Christ and that people are reading me. If people are reading me, I need an editor. Because, I don’t just tend to write with over drama, melodrama, vanity, and blind spots, I tend to live that way. And I am just now understanding that I am not on this earth to express my self. I am here to express Him, Jesus- his nature, his love, his forgiveness. For this reason, I try submit myself to trusted Godly counsel and correction. For this reason I hand myself over if you will, so that God- through his Holy Word, his Spirit, and his people- can make marks on me, counsel me, correct me, and urge me on to a better and purer expression, not of me, but of he who is worthy of being made known. Christ.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom… Colossians 3:16 ESV
All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV