What is Empowerment? Women's Empowerment
The word empowered functions as an adjective and a verb depending on the context, and is used to describe someone who is given the authority or power to do something. It derives from the assimilated form of en- + power . The prefix em-, comes from the French assimilation of en- which means in-, and the word power, which means the ability to act or do. Thus, if one is empowered, it literally means one who is walking in power. Now as the word empower stands as a verb, the word empowerment stands as a noun. According to Oxford Living Dictionary, empowerment means the authority or power given to someone to do something. It is the process of becoming stronger and more confident, especially in controlling one's life and claiming one's rights.
Most people would probably categorized and identify empowerment as being an idea or social construct, brought about during the Feminist movement of the 1970s. Though, the Feminist movement was a powerful political movement, in which, women displayed great courage and confidence, it should not be the only measuring stick whereby we use to conceptualize the essence of divine empowerment, for empowerment is more than just a political concept or movement, it is a mental, spiritual, and physical state of being.
Elements of Empowerment
Two of the most integral and foundational spiritual and physical elements of empowerment are faith and action. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). Without faith you will feel fearful and hopeless. But with faith, that is rooted in Christ Jesus, you will have hope, confidence, and therefore, will reside in a state of divine empowerment.
Now faith alone is not enough to walk in true empowerment. Let’s refer back to the definition of empowerment. Remember empowerment is the authority or power given to someone to do something. That’s right “to do” something. Please allow me to emphatically say that again, and repeat after me, yes “to do something”. To do something bottom line means taking action. Therefore, empowerment is the combination of faith, which leads to power, which should lead to action.This is why the Feminist movement of the 70's was so powerful, because they did something. James 2:14-16 states,
14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
Wow, what a powerful scripture! This scripture is essentially saying don’t expect to see the full manifestation of your faith without planting a seed of “works” or action. Therefore, you cannot expect to walk in divine empowerment without doing something. Often times I hear people say, “God is faithful, and I'm faithful, but I’m still having trouble walking in purpose.” And my response to this kind of statement is, “well that’s probably because you are not taking action”. This is where I believe the sweet and beautiful adage “you have to walk out on faith” derives from.
God is Calling us Forth to Be Proactive!
Beloved, God is calling us forth to be proactive! It's not enough to just have faith, you also have to actually do something. In essence, you should not just feel empowered, but walk in empowerment.
So the question is, how do we reside in a state of empowerment? Well, it takes of course faith, but most importantly, it takes everyday faith and action. Hence the name of this blog, “Everyday Empowerment”. Like Paul wrote, “I die daily brethren!” (1 Corinthians 15:31). Paul knew that in order to be successful, and to be empowered to walk in divine purpose it takes the actions of dying to temptation, negative thoughts, and the flesh daily.
Ladies, now I know that it’s not easy to walk in empowerment. It is going to take a lot of prayer, inner healing (which I'll go into in my next blog), and action. But always remember you can do all things through Christ that strengths you!
Ultimately, my prayer is that you start coupling your faith with action today.
With love,
Dr. Shannon
