What I Learned about Writing by Writing a Daily Devotional

I'm not sure I like daily devotionals in the same way others do; Here’s what I learned by writing 147 of them anyway.

I’ve written daily devotionals in the past, but I'm not sure I like daily devotionals in the same way others do. Here’s what I learned by writing 147 of them anyway.

How I Accidentally Became a Daily Devotional Writer

I have a confession: I am not a daily devotional reader. The irony is that while 147: What Jesus Told Us To Do is one of a handful of daily devotionals I've written in my life (one of which became a published book), I have never actually been a very faithful daily devotional reader. Well, I should correct that. I like reading daily devotionals and have devoured dozens, perhaps hundreds. It’s just that I just don't like reading them on a daily basis.

This has less to do with the devotionals themselves, and more to do with the rhythms in my life. About two decades ago I wrote an article about an idea I developed called “Life Rhythm Theory.” The core thought is that most people function in different ways (in their work, personal, and spiritual life) according to varying rhythms and patterns of schedule. This may seem obvious to you, but it seemed to me that people are daily, some are weekly, some monthly, and others are seasonal. It is my contention that the daily devotional style (and other patterns marketed to everyone) likely works best for those who have that daily rhythm approach to life, but not as well for the others.

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The ideas in that article provided some early inspiration for Gwen Jackson, who developed the concept with precision and excellence in her wonderful book called Unforced Rhythms: why daily devotions aren't for all of us. Learn more about that book here and here.

With that confession out of the way, I'd like to share with you what I learned about writing by writing this daily devotional.

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I Learned There Are Actually Three Kinds of Writing, Not Two

I've known about the first two kinds of writing for years and years, but not the third. It was good to experience the third kind of writing, which is a mixture of the first two. Here they are: