Have you ever done a spiritual gifts assessment? When I was a fledgling Christian woman leader I did one…and when I read the score I had a shock! One gift rated far lower than the others. Can you guess what my lowest rated spiritual gift was?

My confidence sagged when I read that I scored lowest in leadership gifting! Wow. I didn’t have any illusions…I knew I wasn’t doing the most fabulous job in the world. But was I really THAT LOW? I can tell you, it took a while to figure out my identity as a Christian woman. You may have had the same experience…and asked yourself this question:

How Do I know If I’m a Leader?

There are lots of reasons why I (and other women) wonder about this. When I looked back over the spiritual gifts test questions, something began to make sense. I scored low on one notable category: “leadership gift has been affirmed by others.” Can you see why this was a major eye-opener? I realised my low score partly reflected a lack of data. No one had ever explicitly said, “you’re a leader”, let alone, “you’re a good leader”. However, just because no one has told me I am a leader, doesn’t mean I am not one. Lack of affirmation is not a reason to believe you are not a leader either.

Uncertainty around leadership is particularly significant for Christian women leaders. We start out already feeling tentative about our roles and giftings. Often churches aren’t particularly good at giving women clear permission signals on leadership. Women do seem to need affirmation and permission more than men do. Clearly communicated policies, mentoring and explicit encouragement are some of the things that bless emerging women leaders. A book I have found helpful in understanding my own journey into leadership, as a woman, is “Developing Female Leaders,” by Kadi Cole. All leaders in churches, and especially aspiring women, will find it a great resource.

The challenges stated above impact us, however they don’t have to be limitations. We need a way to look at leadership that guides us to God’s affirmation and also, importantly, helps us grow into our leadership potential. I realised it would be great to have a simple and practical way to assess leadership…so eventually I got around to making one! You can try it out for yourself.

Three Key Attributes of Christian Women Leaders

All believers need faith, godly character and fruit of the Spirit. On top of these, godly leaders need additional attributes. I believe that three key attributes define the best godly leaders, regardless of gender. Happily, anyone who wants to serve God can intentionally cultivate these qualities. They are: Contemplation, Conviction and Courage. These three keys will enrich your life, open up opportunities to express leadership, and also help you to grow into your full potential.

Three key attributes define the best godly leaders. They are Contemplation, Conviction and Courage.

Gospel Women

You can assess your leadership as a Christian woman very easily on these three attributes. Do you make a practice of contemplating God’s word and his revelation to you? Do you experience conviction to act from your experiences of God? Is courage around your convictions something that guides you to keep going? These are subjective areas, and there is no need to score yourself. You will have a clear sense on whether these three areas are important to you already and whether you want to make them a high priority. The best part of the three attributes is that they are practical and concrete choices you can make in daily life as you live in faith. In choosing to live by these attributes you will grow as a leader, whether anyone affirms you or not.

Resurrected Hopes

I will break down these attributes further in future articles. For now, I have a message for the Christian women who have not been affirmed as leaders. I know that it has been intensely painful for you, and for many it has resulted in a withering of your passion for service. Some of you may be limping along in a dispirited way. Those of us who have experienced it and come out the other side know what you are going through. We are cheering you on and praying for you. I hope you know that your greatest struggles can either defeat you or make you more convicted and courageous. God delights in resurrecting things we thought were lost, it is what gives him the greatest glory.

At Gospel Women we would love to bless you in your journey as a woman leader. Visit our Courses page to find resources to help you along the way. For the next article in this series, you can read about Contemplation here.