How to Learn Marketing from the Bible

You know that awkward moment when you run into an old friend and have to update them on the last 5 years in 8.4 minutes? Yeah, me too.

This has happened to me twice in the last 24 hours. And while I love seeing old friends(!), it can be awkward. Not because of them, but because of me. (Hannah, Michelle, and Katie—it’s not you, it’s me!)

I just created this website—emilygehman.com (that’s where you are right now, in case you were confused)—which I’m pretty excited about, but sometimes it’s hard to say, “Oh hey, you should check out emilygehman.com.”

Try it: Just add “dot com” to your name and see how weird it sounds. Say it out loud, right now. (Just humor me and do it, okay?)

Doesn’t it feel weird?

So you can imagine—this task of marketing myself as a freelance writer feels kind of weird, because that’s what I have to say. It’s somewhat counterintuitive for me.

Here’s Why

Through my 23 years in church, I’ve learned that the grace of God is great (amazing, if you will) toward a sinner(/wretch) like me. I’ve learned that my heart is a dark place without the brightness of Jesus Christ, the Light of the world. I’ve learned that pride lurks around every corner, and that to avoid it, you can’t be too hard on yourself.

And then I go to the Scriptures, and am reminded that God doesn’t really want to smash me over the head with a Bible, always telling me how horrible I am.

In fact, it says that God’s kind of proud of me.

Ephesians 2:10 says “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Yes, a good, Scriptural-truth understanding of the darkness and gravity of my sin is necessary to really appreciate the saving work of Jesus Christ…

…But it must be balanced with other, equally important truths in God’s Word.

The truth is also that God has specifically created me—and you, too— as “His workmanship.” Some translations even use the word masterpiece!

Know This

You are created by God and for His good purpose, and He loves you dearly!

And while you shouldn’t think of yourself more highly than you should (Romans 12:3)—that whole pride thing—you also should thank and praise God for who He has made you to be…a masterpiece, created for good things!

So the Bible is my self-marketing handbook. Add that to the list of things I never thought I’d say!

[Come back tomorrow for a really, really exciting post…you won’t be disappointed!]