The Gospel, Give, & Go

Mary Magdalene

The Gospel of Giving: From Receivers to Radical Givers

In a world marked by conflict and uncertainty—where Nigerian Christians face persecution, where wars rage across continents, and where complacency threatens to lull us into spiritual slumber—we're called to something more. We're invited into a life-transforming pattern: to be gospeled, to give, and to go.

The Foundation: Grace That Transforms

The story begins with an unnamed woman who crashes a Pharisee's dinner party. She's lived a life marked by sin, and everyone knows it. Yet she approaches Jesus with reckless abandon—weeping on His feet, wiping them with her hair, pouring expensive perfume as an offering of worship.

The religious elite scoff. If Jesus were really a prophet, they reason, He would know what kind of woman this is. He would push her away.

Instead, Jesus speaks words that echo through eternity: "Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you. Go in peace."

This is the gospel in its purest form. Not a transaction we complete, but a gift we receive. Not something we earn through moral excellence, but grace extended to the broken, the desperate, the ones who know they need rescue.

Immediately after this encounter, we meet Mary Magdalene—a woman from whom seven demons had been cast out. Alongside her are Joanna, Susanna, and many other women who had experienced healing and deliverance. These weren't minor inconveniences Jesus had addressed; these were life-altering transformations.

The Response: When the Saved Become Givers

Here's where the story takes a remarkable turn. These women—Mary Magdalene and her companions—didn't just receive healing and walk away. They became financial supporters of Jesus' entire ministry. Out of their own means, they funded the traveling ministry of Jesus and the twelve disciples.

Think about what this means. Every parable Jesus told, every miracle He performed, every teaching He delivered during those years—someone was paying for it. When Jesus healed the sick woman and raised the dead girl, when He sent out the twelve disciples, when He taught the Lord's Prayer, when He told the story of the prodigal son—Mary and these women were footing the bill.

The pattern is clear: **those who have been freely given to become joyful givers**.

This isn't about earning salvation through generosity. It's about salvation producing generosity. When you've been forgiven much, you love much. When you've received grace upon grace, giving becomes not a burden but a privilege.

The Biblical Blueprint for Giving

The wisdom of Proverbs instructs us to "honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops." This isn't just Old Testament legalism. Jesus Himself affirmed the practice of tithing while calling for justice, mercy, and faithfulness.

In Malachi, God issues a remarkable challenge: "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it."

It's the only place in Scripture where God says, "Test me." Try it. See what happens when you put God first with your finances.

The practical wisdom looks like this: **10-10-80**. Give 10% to God's work. Save or invest 10%. Live on 80%. It's a plan that acknowledges God's ownership of everything and our role as managers, not owners.

Contrast this with the world's approach: earn money, spend it on yourself first, pay bills if you can, maybe save something, and if there's anything left (there rarely is), consider giving. Then wonder why you're in debt.

God's way flips the script: have a plan, receive from God (not just earn), give first, save, pay bills, then enjoy what remains. This isn't restriction—it's freedom.

The Ripple Effect: Lydia's Legacy

The pattern continues with Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth whom Paul met by a river in Philippi. When the Holy Spirit opened her heart to the gospel, she immediately responded with generosity. Her home became the first European church.

But it didn't stop there. The Philippian church—birthed in Lydia's house—became Paul's most consistent financial supporter. While other churches failed to support his missionary work, the Philippians "sent aid again and again."

Think about what Lydia's generosity funded: Paul's journey to Thessalonica, to the Bereans, to Athens, to Corinth. The letters to the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, Timothy, Titus. Half of the New Testament exists in part because one woman said yes to the gospel and opened her home and her wallet.

Treasures in Heaven

Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." This isn't a warning—it's an invitation. We get to invest in eternal things. We get to store up treasures that moth and rust cannot destroy, that thieves cannot steal.

What are those treasures? Not gold. **People**.

Every child who hears the gospel because a church has the resources to run a children's program. Every family that finds community because someone funded a building where they could gather. Every missionary sent because a church prioritized giving. Every life transformed because resources were available to meet physical and spiritual needs.

These are the treasures waiting in heaven—relationships, transformed lives, eternal impact.

The Joy of the Journey

Those who embrace this pattern of giving consistently testify to unexpected blessing. Not necessarily financial windfalls, but a shift in perspective. A recognition that everything belongs to God anyway. A freedom from the anxiety that comes with clutching tightly to possessions. A joy that comes from participating in something bigger than ourselves.

One person shared: "The Bible says to test God in this. When my wife and I began tithing, God provided." Another said: "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. I'm trying to get my treasure on the Lord's side." Even those who were recently living in poverty discovered the blessing of giving as they learned to walk in this principle.

The Call Forward

We stand in a long line of givers. From Mary Magdalene who funded Jesus' earthly ministry, to Lydia who opened her home and resources to launch the European church, to generations of faithful believers who invested in God's kingdom work.

The question isn't whether we've been given to—if we know Jesus, we have. The question is: **Will we respond by becoming givers ourselves?**

Not out of guilt. Not out of obligation. But out of joy. Out of gratitude. Out of a desire to see God's kingdom advance and lives transformed.

The gospel makes us receivers. Grace turns us into givers. And the Spirit sends us out as goers—people who don't just support ministry financially but engage in it personally, telling others about the Jesus who transforms everything.

Where is God calling you to take a step? What might it look like to invest more intentionally in eternal things? How might your generosity unleash ministry that impacts generations?

These aren't burdens—they're invitations into the most joyful adventure imaginable: partnering with God in His redemptive work in the world.