Sometimes blogging feels pointless. You labour over your words, trying to make them as biblically faithful and personally engaging as you can, you hit ‘Publish’, and then your words join in the ever-shifting sea made up of millions of other words published on the internet that day. Occasionally someone will share how your article helped or changed them, but for the most part it’s a constant exercise of faith that somehow, somewhere, your words matter. The next day, millions more words will have buried yours and pushed them into obscurity.

If the purpose of blogging is your own fame and glory, you’re facing an endless cycle of discouragement with only occasional glimmers of hope.

But there’s a better foundation. When we blog for God’s glory instead of our own, we can see how throwing a few words into that rising sea is like the poor widow placing her copper coin in the temple treasury. Even if they don’t change the world, they please our Father and inexorably change our own hearts.

In their new book Blogging for God’s Glory in a Clickbait World, Benjamin Vrbicek and John Beeson encourage and equip writers to do just that. They cover an impressive range of topics around blogging—everything from its role in our spiritual growth to the nuts and bolts of setting up and maintaining a blog. By breaking down the process of blogging into its elements, Vrbicek and Beeson make it easier for novices to get started while also helping the experienced wordsmith. But they don’t shy away from the challenges of blogging. They are realistic about the obstacles, and provide encouragement for the bumpy road ahead.

My favourite part of the book is the chapter on disciplines. It’s not about the self-discipline required to churn out words every week, but rather how writing integrates with our spiritual disciplines to shape us into the image of Christ. It’s a constant battle for me to focus less on my platform and reputation and more on how God is shaping me through my writing—but this is precisely the challenge I need. Vrbicek and Beeson helpfully show that a key part of blogging for God’s glory is allowing it to make us more holy (even when that means we get less traffic or acclaim).

This week marks two years since I started my blog. In that time God has kindly given me lots of reasons to rejoice, but there have also been hard-won lessons about my own sin. I wish I’d had a book like Blogging for God’s Glory when I first started out. I won’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone, whether a seasoned blogger or someone who is just thinking about the possibility of starting to write. Benjamin Vrbicek and John Beeson have given a wonderful gift to Christian writers in this book.

You can buy Blogging for God’s Glory in a Clickbait World on Amazon today.