Galatians 6:7-10 – Never Give Up

galatians-6-7-10-never-give-up

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he 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. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith

— Galatians 6:7-10 ESV

The Bible gives us a bunch of different perspectives, analogies, etc. by which we can better understand life and how we’re called to live. This scripture is one of those. You’ve probably heard people say, “You get into it what you put out of it.” Well, that old adage has explicitly Biblical roots found right here in Galatians 6. It’s not any more complicated than it seems. If you do good, you will reap that which is good. If you sow into evil things, you’ll reap evil things. In fact, in Hosea 8:7 it says “They sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.” The “wind” is Bible-speak for things of this world. It’s something that’s there, but you can’t really grab hold of. It’s something that isn’t eternal. That’s actually part of the point Paul is making in this Galatians passage. When he says “the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption” he means that if you sow into things that only satisfy momentarily, they will ultimately let you down. That’s why he says “the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” The consequences of that are huge. That means that the normal,everyday things you do have eternal consequences. And if you sow into the things of God, you will reap eternity with Him.

seems simple enough

It is, in fact, very simple. The issue usually isn’t understanding in what we should or shouldn’t do, it’s that we know what we should do and choose not to do it. Paul says “in due season we will reap, IF we do not give up.” That’s a big IF. Think about how easily we often give up on stuff because it gets hard. What if we stuck with the things that we know are good and believe God has called us to, and just chose to trust Him that we will reap when it’s time. And you don’t even have to guess what it is that you will reap, because God promises it will be eternal life. There’s this amazing part of being a born-again follower of Christ that allows us to access eternal life on this side of Heaven. The abundant, eternal life doesn’t start just when you get to Heaven. It starts now. That’s why what we do here matters. We are living in a world that will pass away, but the life we are sowing into is eternal.

I challenge you to start living in a way that reflects this truth. Obviously, we live in this tension of having access to things eternal while living in a world steeped sin, so things won’t be perfect. But 1 John 4:4 says, “He who is in you is greater he who is in the world.” That means you can win. It might be short and easy, but often it’s a hard, long process of sowing without seeing anything. But God promises you that you will reap if you don’t give up. So never give up.

– Adam