We've been doing a lot of talking about purpose recently
Including why purpose is important to your PR strategy and how to do purpose-driven PR.
The reason for this is because when I reflect on the nativity story, particularly from Mary's point of view, that's the overarching theme that jumps out to me about this season
Here's why:
In giving her the gift of Jesus, God took an average little girl and gave her the opportunity to present herself in a new light by lifting the lid of her potential; endowing her with His power and giving her purpose.
But, most of all, God gave her something special to share with the rest of the world- an expression of His love.
To me, this shows us as modern women that we are also pregnant with purpose- meaning that we have something to give and contribute to the world too
However, as a person who sits at the intersection of many identities, I know how hard this can be to believe at times (if not all the time)
You are literally presented with messages built from systems that contradict and try to convince you otherwise every single day but...
Guess what?
Your ability to speak up, step out and shine as the woman that God created you to be is tied to coming out of agreement with society and accepting your divine status as "blessed among women" (Luke 1:28)
Yes you!
Simply put, you can't be a thought leader if you don't actually believe that you have ideas worth sharing...
You can't make impact if you don't believe that you have the power to...
You won't use your voice if you don't believe that it's significant...
You can't be visible if you don't feel that who and what you represent matters...
Because it's impossible to shatter glass ceilings that you continue to uphold
Ready to break them down?
Here's what you must do instead
#1 Overcome your limiting beliefs by coming into agreement with God
What is your knee-jerk reaction when people tell you how gifted and talented you are and how far they can see your star rising as a result? Do you accept the compliment and simply say "thank you" or do you question if it's really true (either within yourself or out loud); then attempt to bat it away? If it's the latter, the same was true of Mary in that when the angel Gabriel greeted her with “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” the Bible says that "she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was" (Luke 1:28-29). Then, when Garbriel prophesied about her role as Jesus' mother, she questioned her qualifications (Luke 1:30-34). Mary clearly also had been confronted with opinions that contradicted her calling. Like you, if it wasn't that she was too much of one thing, she was too little of something else. The difference, though, is that she didn't stay in that mindset. She chose to believe Garbriel when he said "with God nothing will be impossible" and come into agreement with what God said about her instead (Luke 1:37-38). This is what you need to do too, sis. In order to come out of agreement with society's contrary image of you, you must come into agreement with God's.
#2 Follow your God-given purpose even if it gets you labelled a "bad woman"
If it's not that you're being affected by what society has already said about you, it's that you're afraid of what they will say about you for wanting to be a highly visible and successful woman who both owns and walks in her purpose. Chimamanda Adichie puts it this way: "We teach girls that they can have ambition, but not too much...to be successful, but not too successful, or they'll threaten men". And women who threaten the patriarchy are often labelled as "bad women". This was definitely the case for Mary as Joseph (her fiancee) initially wanted to "put her away secretly" (end the marriage) because he was afraid that she would become "a public example" once he found out she was pregnant (Matthew 1:19). But, in the words of of Anne Gordon, "well-behaved women don't change the world;" so you can't let that fear hold you back. You can either walk the path of womanhood that society, culture, tradition and religion has laid out for you or you can be like Mary and go the way of God...but you can't adequately do both.
So what will it be for you, sis? How long will you be caught between 2 opinions? You either believe what God says about you or don't. But if you say you do, know that "faith without actions is dead" (James 2:14-26). That being said, what's one thing that you can do today to kick start your PR journey?
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