Faith
Women of Faith Who Refuse to Be Silent: A Call to Courage After 50
Silence is often mistaken for humility. For a woman with forty years of hard-won judgment, it is closer to waste.
By Lisa Copeland · · 2 min read
Many of us were raised to believe that a godly woman is a quiet one. Not gentle — quiet. Agreeable in meetings, deferential in disagreement, careful never to be the loudest conviction in the room.
That training produced a generation of capable women who can run an organization but hesitate to say a hard true thing in public.
Humility and silence are not synonyms
Humility is an accurate view of yourself. It includes your gifts. A woman who has led teams, survived hard seasons, and built something durable is not being humble when she pretends she has nothing to offer. She is being unavailable.
Convictions kept private cost you nothing and help no one.
What speaking with conviction actually requires
- Clarity. Know the one sentence you actually believe before you enter the conversation.
- Composure. Volume is not authority. Steadiness is.
- Charity. Speak to persuade the reasonable, not to humiliate the opposition.
- Consistency. Say the same thing in the boardroom that you say at your kitchen table.
Start where the cost is survivable
You do not have to begin with a national platform. Begin with the committee where you have been nodding along. Begin with the client relationship where you have been swallowing your assessment. Begin with the group chat where the loudest voice is not the wisest one.
Courage is built in small rooms so it is available in large ones.
The women who shaped this country's churches, schools, and businesses were rarely the loudest people in the room. They were the ones who would not be moved. That is the standard.