Done Any Editing Lately?

Every writer understands the pain of editing.  Whether writing a newspaper article or a blog or a novel, there comes a time when each word and phrase must be analyzed.  Spelling and punctuation must be checked.  Corrections must be made. Words or phrases are added or deleted. Then the process is repeated, often many times, before the finished product is ready for publication.

I have taken hundreds of photos since we left home a month ago.  Some of them are pretty good, and some are pretty bad, and most are somewhere in between.  I've posted many of them to Facebook for friends and family to see as they are following our journey.  None of those photos has yet been edited.  When I get back home, the editing process will begin, and the result will be that many of those not-so-great photos will actually turn out to be pretty good.

We're familiar with editing our photos or editing our written work.  We're perhaps less familiar with applying editing principles to our lives.

Editing means that things are cleaned up.  It means that things are corrected.  It means that some things are deleted.

It's true for written work.  It's true for photos.  And it's true for our lives as well.

Editing some things out of my life is an area where the Lord has been really dealing with me.  As in, what things in my life need some correction. What additions need to be made? What things in my life need some fine-tuning.  What things in my life need to be deleted.

As a result I have been asking a lot of questions.

What foods need to be deleted from my life?  What foods need to be added?

What habits need to be deleted from my life?  What habits need to be added?

What corrections need to be made in my speech?

What needs to be deleted?  In my activities.  In my recreation.  In my reading.  In my TV watching.  In the way I spend my money.

What needs to be added?  In my activities.  In my recreation.  In my reading.  In my TV watching.  In the way I spend my money.

Writing is a process.  Photography is a process.  Life is a process.  And all those processes need some editing from time to time.

What about you?  Have you done any editing lately?

Something to think about.


"But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord."  (Philippians 3:7 NASB)