God has chosen women to be leaders with God-given responsibilities ever since the creation of the first humans. Genesis 1:26-29 paints a picture of the image of God being imbued into the very nature of all human beings–male and female. God gave them equal responsibility to “have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth” (Gen. 1:26, 28 NRSV). In that perfect design, there was no need for humans to dominate one another. God was the leader for humans. Unfortunately, we have gotten away from God’s perfect design of equality. Yet, it is still possible to model our lives after that perfect design.

When women and men are given opportunities and encouraged to use and develop all the gifts with which God has blessed them, then God’s glory is manifested in the results. During the month of March, Women’s History Month, I will focus my blog posts on some of the ways women in biblical history and in American history have worked to remind us that God’s expectations for humans are to do justice, love kindness/mercy, and to show our faith by walking humbly with God (See Micah 6:8 and Matthew 23:23).

If you are preparing to celebrate Women’s History Month during March, or specifically, International Women’s Day on Wednesday, March 8, and need some ideas for stories of women’s accomplishments, you’ll find below the list of women I will be writing about each week. Feel free to do your own research on each of these and you will quickly find some great (and maybe surprising) illustrations of women’s leadership. If you’re looking for a women’s organization to help support during Women’s History Month, I encourage you to join me in supporting Global Women, an organization committed to helping the world become a place where every woman is empowered by the love of God, valued by her community, and equipped to fulfill her unique purpose.

March 7 – Do Justice – Shiphrah & Puah (Exodus 1) – Lucretia Coffin Mott (1793-1880)

March 14 – Do Justice – Zelophehad’s Daughters (Numbers 27 and 36) – Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902)

March 21 – Love Mercy/Kindness – Pharaoh’s Daughter (Exodus 2) – Sarah Grimke (1792-1873) and Angelina Grimké Weld (1805-1879)

March 28 – Walk Humbly with Your God – Woman with the Alabaster Jar (Matthew 26) – Sojourner Truth (1797?-1883)

I’ll see you next week with the stories of women slaves who defied laws to birth babies and a mother who defied laws to free slaves. Do justice!

Join the conversation in the Comments with your ideas for celebrating Women’s History Month.