Some insight from Penelope Stokes, author of The Complete Guide to Writing & Selling the Christian Novel:

“Readers know the difference between religiosity that is pasted on and true spirituality that rises from deep within. They can discern integrity, even if they cannot articulate what it is. And they are looking for real fruit—the kind of spiritual truth that is rooted in reality and natural to the characters and plotlines we ask them to accept.”

Ah, and this:

“True spiritual content in a novel grows out of the story from deep within, the way sap rises up through the root system of a tree to produce leaves and flowers and fruit.”

If spiritual imagery infuses our story, it has to flow from the ‘reservoirs’ of our own experience with God, Stokes reminds us. Readers can sense when we’ve merely peppered our prose with God-talk. But a genuine faith permeates all that we do, especially our writing.

Do we not write to make a difference in the hearts of our readers? Then our stories must bear the mark of our King, carrying eternal significance by always writing with spiritual integrity as our undercurrent.

Something to think about, anyway.