Have you ever felt so exhausted trying to build your business that you wonder if you’re just not cut out for this?

I have. And for the longest time, I tried doing it by myself. It was tiring. It was exhausting. Everything felt so heavy, and I thought, “Is this just always how life as a mom and a business owner is?”

But here’s what I discovered: The missing piece wasn’t another strategy. It wasn’t another course. It wasn’t another late night or early morning hustling.

It was community.

And if God mentioned it over 200 times in the Bible, but zero times celebrating the lone wolf, maybe community isn’t optional. Maybe it’s essential.

So today, I’m sharing part two of our Doing Business Differently series, and we’re diving deep into God’s design for community.

Why Community Matters More Than You Think

Here’s the big idea that we’ve been talking about in this series: You can’t experience God’s best while chasing worldly success.

If you missed part one where we talked about kingdom success versus worldly success, I highly recommend going back to listen because it really sets the tone for what we’re unpacking here.

But here’s what I want you to understand: When we’re doing business God’s way, it looks different. His economy is so different.

I’ve been walking with the Lord since I was eight years old. Around 23 is when I started owning my faith. But last year at the age of 37? That’s when I started truly letting God lead my business.

And if you listen back to my podcast for the last year, you’ll hear my transformation.

For the past 13 years as a business owner, I’ve been walking in worldly ways. So one year is not going to undo all of that. It’s a process.

That’s what this whole series is about, undoing what we’ve all been ingrained with and what we’ve learned from other business coaches who mean well, but they’re just not walking closely with the Lord.

The Company You Keep Determines the Patterns You Follow

Romans 12:2 says: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is, his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Remember how I just talked about how we have to retrain our minds? To go from believing all the worldly stuff for so long to now leaning into what the kingdom says about success? That’s a renewing of your mind process.

But here’s what I realized: You can’t do it alone.

In Romans, Paul immediately moves from “renew your mind” and “do not conform” to talking about humility and community. He talks about not thinking too highly of yourself. He talks about how the body of Christ functions together.

And in 1 Corinthians 15:33, it says: “Do not be misled, bad company corrupts good character.”

You’ve probably heard this before: You’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with.

I’ll say it again: You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.

If you’re trying to build God’s way, but you’re surrounding yourself with worldly voices, you’re just fighting an uphill battle.

And I’m telling you, I did this for 13 years. I invested $30,000 in different coaches, and they were not fostering an environment where Jesus was the center. It was all worldly tactics and strategies.

It’s so difficult to be in a space like that.

I think that’s why we as Christians, when we put ourselves in secular coaching programs and hire secular coaches, we feel this tension of like, “I just don’t feel like it should be this hard.”

And it’s because we’re trying to follow the mold of the world when we are not worshipping the world. We’re worshipping God and following God.

So that’s why it feels so incredibly hard.

Five Ways Godly Community Transforms Your Business

The first step to experiencing God’s best in your life isn’t another strategy. It’s not another coaching program. It’s not another coach.

It’s the right community.

Here’s what godly community does:

1. Godly Community Combats Isolation and Loneliness

One of the number one things I hear is that mamas feel so alone in business.

Are you feeling alone? Like no one understands the struggle you go through on a daily basis with your specific kids, your spouse, the business you run, while also trying to follow Jesus and maybe volunteer at church and read your Bible and listen to a godly podcast?

You’re trying to do all the right things, but you’re still feeling alone.

I’m telling you, it’s because of the community you surround yourself with.

The community you’re looking for needs to be godly. It needs to point you back to Jesus. It needs to allow you to feel seen and known and understood by other people who get it.

2. Godly Community Points Out Your Blind Spots

We truly need each other to see what we can’t see because we’re too close.

When you’re stuck in hustle mode, your community can redirect you.

When you’re striving and chasing, your community can remind you to surrender.

And when you’re chasing worldly metrics, they can help realign you with kingdom values.

We all need that. I know it’s hard, right? We call it tough love. But we all want someone in our life and in our corner who’s going to look out for us and say, “Hey, I don’t think you’re heading down a good path. I think you need to surrender. I think you need to pray about it. I think you need to get your priorities straight.”

Tough love, but it matters and it’s important.

We actually had someone in the Purpose Gathering Collective share recently that she was in a secular networking group and brought to them a struggle she was having. She was also sharing with us at the collective how she was feeling.

And she told us that the advice they gave her was to try mushrooms and marijuana.

She was flabbergasted. She said, “Why is that the first thing they recommend when I’m struggling? I want nothing to do with that.”

That might be an extreme example, but those are the types of things that can get us completely off track. It might not be that obvious to you. It might be something more subtle, but it’s those little things that are coming from a good place, they’re trying to help you out, but it’s just not from a godly place.

And that’s why it’s so important to be surrounded with godly community that points back to Jesus.

3. Godly Community Shoulders the Burdens With You

Galatians 6:2 says: “Carry each other’s burdens and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

We were never meant to shoulder the burdens ourselves. We were also never meant to put our hands up and be like, “Sorry, those are your burdens.”

No, we were meant to shoulder each other’s burdens.

Your community carries you when you’re weak. When you want to quit or give up, they remind you why you started.

When you’re overwhelmed and stressed and feeling depleted of energy, a godly community will pray over you.

And when business feels hard and you can’t go on another day doing this business, a godly community will stand in the gap. They’ll share stories about how they too have been in a hard place.

Because business is hard. Anyone that ever told you business was easy was lying because it’s not.

But business should be fun and business should feel light. It doesn’t mean it will be easy, but it should feel light.

And when you’re walking in step with the Lord, your business will feel light. I promise you that.

4. Godly Community Reminds Us of Who We Are

In a world that measures worth by productivity and followers and revenue, because everyone always is trying to compare income, your godly community is going to remind you of your true identity.

This is a place where your wins are celebrated, both the big ones and the small ones. Because when we focus on the good, the good gets better.

In a godly community, we hold space for your struggles without judgment because we all are going through our own unique struggles. And Satan loves it when we keep them hidden.

But as soon as we bring them to light, as soon as we say them out loud, that’s when transformation happens.

So if there’s something right now that you’re holding onto that is in the dark, I encourage you to bring it to light so that you can find healing, so that someone can come alongside you and say, “I’ve been there too. Let me help you through it.”

Godly community will remind you that your identity is not in what you do, but whose you are. You are a daughter of the King, first and foremost, and everything else flows from that truth.

5. Godly Community Gives You Permission to Slow Down

God’s pace is different. When we trade strategy for surrender, we find that peace that surpasses all understanding. That yoke becomes easy and that burden becomes light.

I think so many women are burnt out from hustle culture, and they need to see other people modeling what kingdom success looks like.

Being in proximity to other people who are building life and business differently gives you permission and a roadmap for a slower, more intentional pace.

Just being in proximity with women who are living proof there’s another way is all you need. It gives you that permission to slow down, provides that roadmap for more intentional peace, and helps you keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.

What the Enemy Wants for You

Here’s what the enemy wants: He wants to keep you too busy for community.

He whispers things like: “You don’t have time for another commitment.” “You need to work.” “You have too much to do.” “Community is just a nice to have. Maybe one day, but it’s not a necessity.”

And when you’re isolated, because that’s exactly what Satan wants, he wants you to feel isolated and alone, you’re going to be easier to deceive. You’re going to be more vulnerable to burnout. And you’re going to be much more likely to give up.

If you’ve ever felt like giving up on your business, and I know you probably have, I think we all have, I’ve wanted to give up on my business multiple times.

Honestly though, not since I started letting God lead my business. But prior? Absolutely. Multiple times. Several times a month.

I wanted to give up because I asked myself, “Maybe I’m just not cut out for this. Maybe I’m just not meant to be a business owner because this shouldn’t be so hard. I see everybody else having all this success. They’re doing great.”

But you know what? We don’t ever see what’s beneath the surface of all those people who say they’re doing great.

We don’t know if their marriages are crumbling, if their kids have a relationship with them, if maybe the income they’re making is amazing but their expenses exceed that and they’re in debt that we don’t even know about.

There’s so much beneath the surface, and Satan loves it. He loves us to get wrapped up in that and to be deceived.

And the Lord is saying, “Absolutely not. You need to be surrounded by sisters in Christ who can point out the blind spots, who can build you up, who can remind you of who you are, who can give you that permission to slow down, who can help you combat loneliness and shoulder those burdens for you.”

Because that’s what godly community does.

Your Invitation to Join Us

Remember: God mentioned community in the Bible over 200 times. This is not optional. It is not a nice to have. Community is essential.

You were never meant to do this alone.

If you’ve been isolating or carrying burdens that no one else knows about, or you’ve been scrolling for business advice or seeking the next strategy or chasing worldly success, I want to invite you into our free godly community.

Inside the Purpose Gathering, you’re going to find: Real conversation about faith, business struggles, and mom guilt, and you don’t have to filter anything A judgment-free zone where we support, pray for, and encourage each other Deep dives about the podcast and business support from women walking the same path Monthly virtual fireside chats (except this month, we’re meeting in person!) A safe space to share the beautiful chaos of trying to be present with your kids while building a meaningful business

We’re not posting highlight reels here. We’re not comparing. We’re just being honest and authentic. I promise.

Come join us at The Purpose Gathering Community, and we cannot wait to come alongside you, to connect with you, and to support you.

Go Deeper at Our In-Person Workshop

If you want to take it even deeper, we’re hosting an in-person workshop called Rested and Rooted. It’s happening January 21st in Gilbert, Arizona. Or if you’re not local, you can join us via the replay.

This is going to be an amazing opportunity for us to go deeper into what it looks like to stay rooted in Christ while we’re building a business.

I’ll be teaching about staying rooted in Christ while you’re building your business and in your personal life. And Carla is going to be showing us practically what it looks like to plan for our business.

How do you toe the line of surrendering to God but also still moving and taking action? Because God doesn’t want us to just sit on the couch waiting around for Him to give us all the next steps. He wants us to plan. He wants us to do our due diligence and work hard on the things He’s calling us to do.

But He can’t really direct us if we’re not moving.

So be sure to find out more information at thepurposegathering.com/workshop.

Final Words From My Heart

I hope you enjoyed today’s episode. I truly mean it when I say that we want to be your godly community.

The Purpose Gathering was founded because I felt alone as a mom and a business owner. And now that my business is more focused on, or entirely focused, truly, on my walk with the Lord, we need this community even more.

I don’t want you to feel alone. I don’t want you to do life and business alone anymore.

We’re here to link arms with you and to shoulder those burdens and to help you on this journey.

You’re not alone, my friend, and we’re always here rooting for you.

Related Podcast Episodes: 

1. Ep 170. Navigating Challenges with Boundaries and Community
2. Ep 59. Building a Community Around your Brand with Elizabeth Henson

Resources:

1. Purpose Gathering Workshop Rested and Rooted (January 21st, 9AM-2PM) – A Spirit-led morning to refocus, reconnect & recharge in Downtown Gilbert, AZ. Live worship, speaker sessions, guided reflection, and intentional connection with faith-driven moms in business. Lunch included! Grab your ticket
2. Learn more about the Collective Mastermind – A Christ-centered space for ambitious mompreneurs who are ready to align their life and business with the Lord.
3. Join the Faith-Fueled Fireside on December 16th at 10AM (AZ Time) – This virtual gathering is an opportunity to connect with like minded mamas who are ready to trade hustle for peace this season.
4. Join the Free Purpose Gathering Community – A welcoming space for Christian mompreneurs to connect, grow, and be encouraged in both life and business.
5. Have a question for me? Or a specific struggle you’re dealing with? I’ll address your question on the podcast. Submit your ‘Ask Ashley’ question here.
6. Please connect with me on Instagram @thepurposegathering.