Preview Mode Links will not work in preview mode

Women World Leaders' Podcast


May 19, 2023

Have you ever made a commitment to be loving and kind only to get frustrated when something happens that throws you off course? You’re not alone.

Join us today as host Kelly Williams Hale provides encouragement around grace and how to lean into who God says we are. God wants us to forgive ourselves when we make mistakes. His grace is enough.

 “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” ~ 2 Corinthians 12:9

 *****

Hi there, and welcome to the Women World Leaders Podcast.

My name is Kelly Williams Hale and I'm your host today on Celebrating God's Grace.

I'm an author, speaker and mentor helping women discover the purpose God has for them and embrace their divine destiny.

Today’s message is about God’s grace, the blessing of God‘s grace, and the beauty of God’s grace. How God connects us with other women. For example, this podcast from Women World Leaders’ has been such a blessing to reach so many women across the world. So today I want to begin by acknowledging the women, Kimberly Hobbs and Julie Jenkins - who had a vision for women world leaders, and saying yes to what god was calling them to do to create this ministry. A ministry that really impacts and empowers women to fulfill their purpose and calling.

Last month I spoke about our gifts and talents, and accepting who we are and our assignment. I want to follow up with that and talk a little bit around self-reflection, and how we can extend God’s Grace to ourselves.

 2 Corinthians 12:9

Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

 Growing up in church, I knew that God loved me that Jesus was his son and he died on the cross for my sins so that I could have life everlasting and yet in my young mind I still felt that I had to earn God’s love. I didn’t yet understand the remarkable grace of God.

I was a child of the 80s. Life was much different back then. We didn’t have so much competing for our attention in terms of the Internet and social media. As young kids, my brothers and I spent a lot of time outside and for me, in my room drawing or reading. We grew up in the era that children were seen and not heard. We definitely had rules in our household. And there were consequences for not following them. I believe that translated into my relationship with God.

As children, there was punishment when we messed up. And so for me, there was a very strong correlation in that when I messed up… and disobeyed the rules in the Bible… the 10 Commandments… the rules that I was taught in church… there was a lot of guilt that surrounded my behavior.

It’s taken me years to really understand the Grace that God so generously bestows. That when we sin, we can repent and ask for forgiveness, through his son, Jesus.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Colossians 3:13 ESV 

This is exactly why Jesus came… because none of us are perfect and we certainly can’t earn our way to heaven… we don’t earn our salvation… however, I feel like as women… As grown up adult women, we tend to still feel like we need to be good enough… and can judge ourselves when we make mistakes… I certainly did when I was younger and still struggle today sometimes.

But we are called to walk in the authority that we’ve received through the Holy Spirit. This can sometimes be a paradox… a duality, if you will. We need to be strong and courageous, but also meek and submissive. It can be confusing!

1 Thessalonians 1:5

for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction;

We judge ourselves so harshly when we feel like we fail or fall short. If we’re not gentle enough, or humble enough… We’ve set unrealistic expectations on ourselves at times and then get super disappointed when we don’t finish our to-do list, or serve in the children’s ministry at church, or say yes to lunch with a friend when we’d rather stay home.

We make a commitment to be loving and kind to our children (or husband) and then they’ll do something (usually ridiculous) and we blow up and freak out on them.

And so today I want to provide some encouragement around grace… giving yourself grace, meaning release the judgment we can hold over ourselves for being human, honestly… and truly lean into who God says we are… lean into the fact that he knows everything! He knows exactly who we are. He wants us to forgive ourselves when we make mistakes… knowing that Jesus forgave us on that cross.

I was talking to my daughter today… she’s a hairstylist and makeup artist and had a job with her client - a photographer. They set aside the day for several women to have their pictures taken. Christie shared with me some of the conversation the ladies had today as they were preparing for their photo shoots. She told me how the women really lifted each other up… celebrating each other… acknowledging the uniqueness of their work. One was a therapist, another worked with trauma… The conversation included the stories we tell ourselves about not being good enough… and how we can judge ourselves so harshly… and fail to acknowledge the wonderful things that we’ve accomplished.

And that resonated so much with me. Particularly because I know the value of women supporting women. Again, this ministry – Women World Leaders – is a perfect example. And I knew it was a God-wink that I was recording this podcast today – after hearing about my daughter’s day with those women.

Growing up, I was taught to be careful about celebrating accomplishments. It might come across as bragging or being boastful… but what I’ve learned is to embrace who God created me to be. He says we are all incredibly valued.

It’s no accident that today message is about celebrating God’s grace.

We – as women – get to honor God when we give ourselves grace and celebrate who he created us to be… we are allowed to give positive feedback to ourselves! To honor what we’re good at… celebrate the gifts that we’ve been given… and know that mercies are new every day.

Lamentations 3:22-23 English Standard Version

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

I recently went to a conference on healing. It was called healing in the kingdom, and I attended a workshop with a young woman who was walking us through a two way journaling exercise, and so if you’re willing, I invite you to explore this idea of journaling and talking to God, and really taking responsibility for our feelings and our emotions, which God gave us, and rather than Stuffing them, or judging ourselves so harshly… we can incorporate our journaling to really speak to God… and to hear from him.

The exercise two-way journaling. She invited us to take a notebook she provided and grab two different colored markers. She turned on some quiet music, which was lovely, and then instructed to think about God… who he is to us… using one of the markers to write out all the attributes of him that we adore and love so much… reflect those back to him and spend three or four minutes just really journaling and writing down, who God is, praising him through our words, thanking him for our blessings.

The second part of the exercise was to take a moment to think about who God says WE are… taking the other colored marker to write our response to him…

I don’t know about you but I struggle sometimes with journaling. I tend to write out prayers when I journal… so this , but this was a bit different. But I felt the Holy Spirit move when I began to write out my response. I began to hear and truly listen to who he says I am… sisters, my hand fairly flew across the paper… thanking him for who he created me to be… speaking life over myself.

It was a beautiful experience.

Do not confess that negative thoughts in your mind, rather speak life to every situation around you (Proverbs 30:32)

I invite you to try this. As you consider God’s grace, and all that Jesus is to us, take some time to reflect. Self-reflection is a gift… an opportunity to grow, give ourselves grace, and remember that God loves us just the way we are. So much so that he sent his one and only son for YOU… so that we can spend eternity with him.

Thanks for listening to Women World Leaders podcast! Join us each Monday, Wednesday and Friday as we explore together God’s extravagant love and your courageous purpose. Visit our website at www.womenworldleaders.com to submit a prayer request, register for an upcoming event, and support the ministry. From His heart to yours, we are Women World Leaders. All content is copyrighted by Women World Leaders and cannot be used without express written consent.