“Shipping is a feature.” We software developers say this to remind ourselves that while it is important to create an excellent program, it is equally important to deliver it. It’s too easy to get stuck in planning and design, but nothing is real until we place it in the hands of the audience.
The phrase is relevant to writers, too, which is why I went public with this blog yesterday despite oscillating on the details. It was time to just take the plunge and do it.
And it is the same for the rest of our lives.
- We can promise to be there for a friend in need, but until we actually show up, our support isn’t real.
- We can think we are compassionate people, but until we start walking hand-in-hand with people in need, we are all talk.
- We can say we love our children, but until we willingly spend time getting to know them, they won’t feel it.
It’s the same concept behind the nativity story: God loved His people, but until He delivered His Son to them, a Savior was just a promise, not a reality.
Until you act on it, your love is just an idea. Delivery makes it real.