Years ago, when John Mark McMillan was asked how he was able to write powerful songs like “How He Loves,” his answer was short and profound:

“You have to bleed a lot.”

If you don’t know the story, he wrote the song after his best friend died in a car accident, and it’s probably worth a Google search to read about it.

My point here is simply that there is a high cost to great depth, and while many people want to have a story of healing, not many want to bleed.

If you and I are going to tell stories that resonate with a broken culture and inspire people toward a God Who overcomes, we’re going to have to bleed a lot. Our pain and healing is what will fill them with the hope they need to move past their pain and find healing, too.