Sowing and Reaping
I’ve really been learning about the biblical principle of sowing and reaping, not only from the Word, but from personal experience. It’s something that came up multiple times as I was reading Proverbs. I knew the Lord was speaking directly to me as this is an area He wants me to grow in and apply to my life. Also, Jesus used many farming parables to convey the Kingdom of God.
He’s also been teaching me this personally. Sowing isn’t just about money. You can sow with your time, your talents, your words and actions. What you sow, you will reap. Everything in the Kingdom of God happens in seed form. If you’re experiencing pains in an area, are you reaping what you’ve sown?
If you sow negative words and criticism, you will reap that. If you sow judgment, don’t be surprised if people start to judge you by pointing out your own hippocracy. Struggling with finances- are your hands open or closed? I have heard many financial testimonies (of provision) by tithing (trusting God with your finances in giving and allowing your church to steward it to help others). If you sow righteousness you can expect life; sow wickedness and expect destruction. Here are some scriptures we’ll look at overall in regards to the concept of sowing and reaping.
Matthew 7: 1-2 “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”
Luke 6:37-38 “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”
Proverbs 11:24-28 “Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything. The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed. People curse those who hoard their grain, but they bless the one who sells in time of need. If you search for good, you will find favor; but if you search for evil, it will find you! Trust in your money and down you go! But the godly flourish like leaves in spring.”
2 Corinthians 9:6 “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”
Proverbs 11:23 “The desire of the righteous ends only in good, the expectation of the wicked in wrath.”
Proverbs 11:25 “The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.”
Proverbs 11:18 The wicked earns deceptive wages,
But he who sows righteousness gets a true reward.
Galatians 6:7-8 “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”
Job 4:8 “According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity
And those who sow trouble harvest it.”
In the words of Pastor Robert Morris, “If you give a seed, you won’t just get back one seed, you’ll get a plant or a tree with many seeds. Whatever you give, you’re going to get more of it back, so you might as well give good things.” He then went on to tell a story about how a single mother came into his office, and started talking about how her children yelled at her all the time. She couldn’t figure out why but he soon realized it was because he saw her immediately yelling at them the second they started misbehaving. She reaped what she was sowing.
This is a principle that God has established, so it applies to everyone whether they are a believer or not. This is exactly why people believe in the new age practices of “karma”, because it’s a principle that works. It’s not “karma” though- it’s because God established this principle on the earth and He created everything. I recently heard a talk from a woman talking about her money mindset and the work she put in and it dawned on me. She partly had it right, but the problem was, she took the Lord completely out of it, and put herself in God’s place. In new age practices, you are the “god.” It is true, that we will reap what we sow.
I was talking to a friend about sowing seeds, especially with our words and what we’re speaking. Our words and their influence on others is so powerful. She articulated it beautifully, and this is what she said; “It takes the truth of God to water and grow seeds that reflect the spirit. Any seed can grow. That’s why we have to be careful which ones we are planting. Seeds bear fruits of their kind. If we want fruits of the Spirit as our harvest than we need to plant seeds of truth (God’s truth). So when someone is active the opposite of who they are in Christ, we shouldn’t water that seed with who they are not, we should water it with the truth!” Thank you, Christina Harris, for those words of wisdom!
If we have planted rotten seeds in our life, we can be sure they will reap a harvest. Maybe you’ve spent years sowing bad seed. However, we can repent and we shouldn’t give up. It’s never too late to plant GOOD SEED. Plow the ground. Give it time. Trust the Lord. God will be faithful to water the seed and make it grow (1 Corinthians 3:6-9).
When we trust in God and His principles we will flourish! Our trust isn’t in money, people, or circumstances, but in God.