Hot Mess For Jesus: Figuring Out How to Sustain a Faith Blog
By: Mya Jacobs
Tags: Blogging Tips, Writing, Faith, Life Lessons, Christianity

I regret starting without a plan in place.

Let’s compare my blog journey to a block of ice. My initial approach lacked sophistication and strategy; I basically just went at it with an old iron pick, armed with good intentions and inflated enthusiasm.

Hindsight is our best critique, and it simply was not a good idea to start my blog without a plan and certain key factors already decided. I hadn’t even identified my niche audience; 7 months later, I’m just now learning the difference between targeting “Christians” vs. “18–25 year old millenials and GenZers defining their relationship with God” (and believe me, there is a huge difference).

If I could go back to when I joined Medium and started blogging back in February, I would tell myself to create a blog business plan. For those of you who may not know, a blog business plan is a document that people use as a tool for planning and executing their goals for a blog.

Many successful bloggers create free blog business plan templates that you receive access to if you sign up for their digital mailing list, like here and here!

I just started using a blog business plan this month, and I’m already seeing improvements in my productivity + an increase in my resolve to keep writing.

Which brings me to the next point:

Focus on your ability to write, and then actually do it!

I’ve always struggled with being consistent with writing, because I suffer from being easily distracted and derailed. During quarantine, I’ve acknowledged my tendency to self-sabotage. I make myself busy with non-urgent things that keep me from writing; errands, cooking, and cleaning are my biggest time-wasters. Well, those things + Hulu.

What finally got me to buckle down on my faith writing again was a revelation about my career, and my knowledge of who God is. I decided at the beginning of this month that I want to make a living with my writing. In addition to that, I realized that God is not going to be a part of my life and success as a writer if I do not honor Him.

God made me a writer for His Glory, first, and my success, second.

His Glory, first; my success, second.

Some people can look at this as limiting, but I have found it to be extremely liberating for me and my writing. A career in writing is a field with endless possibilities, and figuring out where and how to start is a daunting task. The fact that my start is rooted in God’s Kingdom makes it easier for me, because I already chose God for the rest of my life when I gave my life to His Son, Jesus Christ.

Besides a greater purpose, I found more compelling reasons to write for my faith blog when I embraced that my ability to write comes from God.

My new truth is, “God has created me to write, so I will write.”

Obedience to God and trust in His orders is stronger than any negative or uninspired feelings you can have about writing. Final point:

Image by rawpixel.com

Stop allowing yourself to be limited by your emotions.

You don’t need to be 110% enthused every time you sit down to write. Honestly, my writing when I’m in a good vs. bad mood is not significantly different. Writing is a technical ability, and you can train your mind to fall into a space for writing as quickly and as effortlessly as you need to. Try to avoid making it as complicated as what you feel or don’t feel (yikes).

To be successful with my writing, I have to filter out my feelings from my sense of duty. When you reflect on it, that’s the calling of being a Christian; fulfilling God’s will, in spite of anything, including how unmotivated you may feel about the appointed assignment.

The Key Takeaway

My biggest tip for anyone struggling with consistency is to make a genuine effort to build space in your life for your faith blog. Make it a top priority! If this is something that God is calling you to do, then there has to be a sense of urgency. Take the time to write or type into your schedule when you are going to write; set time aside for ingesting spiritual content (scripture, sermons, bible study, Youtube videos, podcasts, blogs, the Bible app); develop your own content, then publish and publicize it.