Strengthening the Spiritual Thread of Your Novel

Have you ever read a book with a piece of a sermon right in the middle of it? I love reading books with strong Christian content, but when I come across such a scene I skim it.

I have been working on strengthening my spiritual thread in my novel during my editing time lately.

One of my sideline characters, Lillian, shares her salvation and transformation experience in the form of a story. I ditched this scene, by the way. Though we may occasionally share our salvation stories with others at length...is this how we usually share our faith?

In our town there was a church that used to witness on the streets, shouting and holding signs about hellfire. I'm not against street evangelism, but I noted the reactions from people around them. I don't think they were pulling much interest. Did people want what they had?

More likely its a verse shared here and there, trying to match our actions up to what we believe, extending grace. People need to see our lives match up.

That's also what they need to see in our characters.

Here's a scene from my WIP. The main character, Rachel has escaped from a dangerous cult. Rachel is not a Christian, but is living with Lillian, an older lady who is a believer. Rachel's stepdaughter, who escaped with her becomes injured in this scene.

I pulled out Lillian's round metal trash can  and Ruthie and I picked the transparent shards from the carpet.

Out of the corner of my eye I watched a crimson-streaked piece of glass sail past me into the basket. “Ruthie.” I grabbed her hand tenderly. She winced slightly. The long streaks of red reminded me of Christ’s hands bleeding out in the picture of the Cross in my Grandmother’s living room. That Jesus stared at me from across the room, eyes glistening with tears.

 “Do you have any bandages?” I shouted several times at increasing decibels to drown out the dust-generating Hoover.

 Lillian turned off the vacuum and disappeared into the bathroom, returning with antiseptic, cotton balls, and a stiptic pencil. "Come in the kitchen, Ruthie.”

She held Ruthie’s hand in the kitchen sink. The blood spouted out in all directions, like a fountain. I thought of my Grandmother rocking me in the big chair, chocolate chips melting into my hands as I listened to her clear voice.

“There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins;

And sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains."

As Grandmother’s voice rang in my ears I rubbed my fingertips back and forth over my eyes to stem the tide of tears. I counted the spices in Naomi’s spice rack and listed their names in my head: cardamom, cilantro, coriander seed, cumin.


Memories. We all have things from our past that God used to bring us closer to the point of salvation and we all have things that we struggled with guilt and shame over. Without using major flashbacks we can share a hint of these and help the reader see a glimpse into our character's spiritual landscape.

I wanted a spiritual thread throughout my novel. My character is not a Christian believer through the majority of the novel. Also, she is living in a culture that is toxic and isolated. She wouldn't even hear the Gospel message in a way we might expect.

She remembers a Christian grandmother rocking her in a big red rocker, singing hymns, and giving her chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven. In a tragic childhood and early adulthood, these memories bring her hope. While I don't want to overdo flashbacks, tiny snippets of these songs are often a part of the novel.

ACTIONS. This is the most important way to get across spiritual truth of course. Brainstorm the ways people in your life showed their faith to you before you became a Christian. Did their actions draw you closer? Were there occasions where they turned you away?

Lillian gently cleans Ruthie's wounds with soap and water, showing Christ's love in a very gentle way.

Visuals. When Rachel sees the streaks of red on Ruthie's hand, it reminds her of a painting. The washing of the wounds is like a fountain, bringing to mind Grandmother's song lyrics. Can we use our description to create a spiritual picture?

What is your character's spiritual love language? What speaks love to your character? What sins do they struggle with that have caused them to believe they can never be forgiven? What lies keep them from believing the truth of Christ's love? What would it take for your charac to believe in a loving God who died for their sins?

Sanctification of your character and others. As your character becomes a believer show the tension between her old life and her new life? What does it take to help her believe she's a new creation? How does her lifestyle begin to change when she realizes this? Think of the changes in your own life. The reader doesn't need to be told, they can see the difference in a chnaged life.


Tell me about the spiritual thread of your novel, or about that of a favorite novel? What sins does your character struggle with and increasingly overcome as s/he grows in faith? What can you add to your novel to strengthen this spiritual thread?




Julia enjoys writing women's fiction whenever she can find a chair free of smushed peanut butter sandwiches and lego blocks. She is a wife and homeschooling mama of two littles. She also enjoys reading and reviewing books for The Title Trakk, a Christian review site.