Favor Fridays with Tony: The Favor of Sacrifice – Black Women, Good Friday, and the Power of Redemptive Love

Welcome to this deeply reflective edition of Favor Fridays with Tony, which lands on two powerful occasions: Good Friday, the day Christians honor the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross, and the 18th day of International Black Women’s History Month. On this sacred day, we explore a profound truth: the favor of sacrifice—how both divinity and humanity are revealed through the willingness to give everything for the sake of others.

Good Friday reminds us of our Savior’s ultimate act of love. He bore our pain, carried our sorrows, and exchanged His life so that we could live eternally. And in this powerful shadow of the cross, we also look to the lives of Black women, who—across history and into our present—have demonstrated redemptive love, deep strength, and holy sacrifice in ways that echo Christ’s humility and power.

Let us honor the favor found in their sacrifice: not martyrdom for the sake of suffering, but purposeful surrender—offering time, wisdom, tears, truth, wombs, homes, hopes, and hearts so that others might rise.

The Divine Example: Jesus’ Sacrifice on Good Friday

On Good Friday, the weight of Christ’s crucifixion is not just physical—it’s emotional, spiritual, and eternal. The favor we walk in today was bought with His blood. And yet, what makes Jesus’ sacrifice powerful is not just the pain—it’s the purpose.

Isaiah 53:4-5 (MSG):“It was our pains he carried—our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us. We thought he brought it on himself, that God was punishing him for his own failures. But it was our sins that did that to him…He took the punishment, and that made us whole.”

Jesus gave up comfort, reputation, and life to obey the call of love. He emptied Himself to fill the broken.

This is the sacred blueprint for sacrificial favor.

Black Women and the Cross-Shaped Life of Sacrifice

Throughout time, Black women have modeled Christlike sacrifice in ways both visible and unseen. They have stood in the gap—healing, teaching, protecting, building, birthing, interceding, leading, laboring—all while often being overlooked. Yet, through their sacrifice, we see the fingerprints of favor.

Biblical Women Who Embodied Sacrifice

1. Mary, the Mother of Jesus

She bore the Redeemer. She raised the Messiah. And on Good Friday, she stood at the foot of the cross and watched Him die. Her sacrifice began with a yes to God and stretched through deep sorrow, becoming part of divine salvation.

2. The Widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17)

She gave Elijah her last meal during a famine. Her obedience and selflessness triggered a miracle. God preserved her household because of her sacrificial spirit.

3. Hannah (1 Samuel 1)

Hannah cried out for a child and promised to return him to God. When her prayer was answered, she kept her word, releasing Samuel into God’s hands. Her sacrifice shaped Israel’s spiritual future.

4. Mary Magdalene

She financially supported Jesus’ ministry and was one of the few to stay until the end. She was the first to see Him risen. Her love was costly and unwavering.

Black Women in History Who Lived a Cross-Shaped Legacy

1. Harriet Tubman – Deliverance Through Danger

She risked everything to lead others out of slavery. Even after her own escape, she returned again and again. Her life was a sacrifice—a path carved through fear, lit by faith.

2. Rosa Parks – Quiet Defiance, Loud Legacy

Her “no” was not passive. It was a deliberate act of sacrifice. She knew her decision could cost her freedom or her life. Yet her stillness sparked a movement.

3. Ida B. Wells – The Reporter of Righteousness

She sacrificed comfort and security to speak against lynching and injustice. She was threatened, chased out of towns, but never silenced.

4. Coretta Scott King – Bearing the Torch of Legacy

After her husband was assassinated, she became a voice for peace, justice, and nonviolence, even as she grieved. She sacrificed privacy, rest, and normalcy to carry the mantle.

5. Mamie Till-Mobley – Turning Grief into Global Witness

Her decision to show her son Emmett’s mutilated body to the world was a profound act of sacrificial truth. She turned personal tragedy into public transformation.

Modern-Day Black Women Still Living Sacrifice

Educators who invest in the next generation with little pay and high pressure.
Pastors, prophets, and ministers who shepherd hurting people while carrying silent pain.
Single mothers working two jobs, tithing faithfully, and raising leaders.
Artists who speak truth and expose injustice through their work.
Caregivers who care for elders, special needs children, or disabled spouses.
Women who give when no one sees, prays when no one claps, and builds when no one helps.

What Favor Looks Like in Sacrifice

1. Choosing Purpose Over Popularity

Favor will lead you to places where others may not go. Choosing to serve, to lead, to stay—when it would be easier to walk away—is sacred.

2. Giving in Love, Not for Applause

Jesus didn’t die for praise—He died out of love. Favor isn’t earned—it’s walked out when we say, “Not my will, but Yours.”

3. Trusting God with What You Release

Like Hannah or the widow, favor requires trust. What you surrender to God is never wasted.

4. Bearing the Pain That Births Purpose

Every push forward often comes with pressure. But like Jesus, like Black women throughout history—you can endure when you know who you are carrying.

5. Resurrection Always Follows Sacrifice

Good Friday isn’t the end. Sunday is coming. Favor honors sacrifice by birthing new life, new legacy, new power.

Scripture of the Day: Romans 5:6-8 (MSG)

“Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready... God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.”

Reflection Questions

What has God called you to sacrifice in this season?
Is your “yes” still on the altar?
Are you making space for resurrection?
Who has benefited from your silent sacrifices?

Final Word

On this Good Friday, may we remember that the favor of God is not just for blessings—it’s for becoming. And becoming often requires sacrifice.

To every Black woman who has loved, led, labored, and lifted others in spite of the cost—thank you. Your sacrifices are not forgotten. They are seeds.

Favor is on you.

Resurrection is coming.

Keep going.

Closing Word

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