Celebrate! May 15, 2025 Devotional

ACTS 16:11-15a | ¹¹ We therefore set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, ¹² and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. ¹³ On the Sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. ¹⁴ A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to  listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. ¹⁵ When she and her household were baptized...

Women in the ancient world faced steep hurdles to participation in the marketplace. Some of these barriers were legal, but most were social, based on negative views of their capacity to lead and           perform. Denied access to education and discouraged from embracing public roles, they were expected to operate exclusively within the sphere of family life. Some women, however, leveraged this latter role to overcome limitations. Most businesses were family affairs prior to the invention of public corporations, so women with leadership and organizational abilities could sometimes exercise these capacities. Lydia dealt in purple cloth, a high-end item for upper-class characters, since purple was hard to manufacture and its use in clothing restricted. It was known as “royal purple” or “imperial purple.” It was extracted from snails.

Have you ever faced barriers to using your talents?

Gracious God,

Help each of us to unlock all of us. May we overcome barriers that prevent others from achieving their potential.

Amen.