The Finish Line Podcast Sharla Langston, Cofounder of Women Doing Well, on the Intersection of Purpose and Passion (Ep. 182)
Sharla Langston has spent decades working at the intersection of faith, purpose, and generosity. After beginning her career as a petroleum engineer and serving in roles that ranged from Alaska to Capitol Hill, God gradually redirected her path through experiences that reshaped her understanding of stewardship and calling. Her journey eventually led her into ministry roles with a local church, the National Christian Foundation, and ultimately into deeper work helping others discover how generosity connects with the unique purpose God has given them.
As co-founder of Women Doing Well, Sharla has helped thousands of women explore how their God-given purpose, passions, and resources fit together. Through research, community, and guided pathways, the ministry helps women overcome barriers to generosity and gain clarity about how to steward their time, talent, and treasure. In this conversation, Sharla reflects on the lessons she has learned across the generosity ecosystem, from local churches to global impact investing, and shares practical wisdom for walking faithfully through fears, decisions, and opportunities around giving.
Listen to discover how identifying your God-given purpose can unlock greater confidence, freedom, and joy in generosity.
Major Topics Include:
- Discovering purpose as the foundation for generosity
- Aligning purpose, passion, and giving plans
- Overcoming fear and scarcity in stewardship
- Community as a catalyst for generous living
- Unique generosity barriers faced by Christian women
- Integrating generosity within marriage and family
- The role of advisors in serving women well
- Giving and impact investing as complementary tools
- The limits and strengths of generosity in the local church
- “Discover your purpose, ignite your passion, and then make a plan for giving and living in God’s image.”
- “The purpose sector of getting a two-word purpose statement so brilliantly covers your whole life. You can look back on it and you can look forward with it.”
- “When purpose and passion align, the confidence to step into generosity grows tremendously.”
- “When God personally acts so strongly, the faith builds.”
- “Find your people. They’re out there. They need you and you need them.”
- “Community is what women wanted and needed but often couldn’t identify.”
- “If there’s fear present, you have to ask what’s really behind that.”
- “God gives us so much more than financial resources that we can actually be generous with.”
- “When believers are putting their investments to work for the Kingdom, from mutual funds to core capital, that’s something everybody can do.”
- “The prayerful approach to giving or investing strengthens what God can do in and through us.”
- When God Interrupts by M. Craig Barnes
- Crown Financial Ministries
- National Christian Foundation (see our interview with President Emeritus, David Wills)
- Generous Church (see our interview with founder Patrick Johnson)
- Generous Giving (see our interviews with cofounders Todd Harper and David Wills and CEO, April Chapman)
- Women Doing Well (see our interview with President, Julie Wilson)
- How to Find a Date Worth Keeping by Dr. Henry Cloud
- Impact Foundation (see our interview with Founder, Aimee Minnich)
- Faith Driven Investor
- Faith Driven Entrepreneur
On the Finish Line podcast, we are all about stories, seeing how God draws us into generosity over a lifetime.
But sometimes these stories can leave us thinking, “What’s that next step look like for me?”
That’s exactly why we’ve launched a whole new podcast called Applied Generosity which explores the full landscape of the generous life across 7 different dimensions of generosity.
Applied Generosity helps make sense of the hundreds of stories we’ve shared on the Finish Line Podcast to help you find that best next step.
If you’ve been inspired by these stories and want to take things to the next level, check out Applied Generosity anywhere you listen to podcasts or at appliedgenerosity.com.