Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

--Parallel verses:
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬-‭9‬
What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

Additional cross-references: ‭‭II Corinthians‬ ‭9‬:‭6‬-‭8‬, ‭‭James‬ ‭3‬:‭17‬-‭18‬, ‭‭John‬ ‭4‬:‭34‬-‭38‬, ‭‭I Corinthians‬ ‭9‬:‭9‬-‭12‬, ‭‭Luke‬ ‭12‬:‭22‬-‭26‬

The concept of sowing and reaping has been used as an analogy throughout the Bible. I have recently run across some false teaching that uses this analogy in Galatians to reinforce its worldly doctrine masquerading as biblical doctrine. The teaching focuses on tracking whether other people are reaping what you sow. If they are, this false teaching tells us to help them reap the consequences of their own behaviors by setting up boundaries around ourselves. It sounds simple and logical. But as you will see below, it is a false doctrine. The Bible tells us to love unconditionally, to sacrificially love others above ourselves, to bear up under suffering and in that way to honor Christ.

The Bible does not instruct us to keep track of other people’s wrongs (with the exception of disciplining our kids) and be focused on fairness in sowing and reaping. In fact, the Bible instructs us to do quite the opposite. Be careful, my friends, deception and lies are best served with a little bit of truth mixed in!

I have listed out a number of additional parallel verses here in an attempt to give us a flavor for the ways in which sowing and reaping is used, and to gain understanding of the overall theme(s) about its use. In general, the books of the Bible were not written with verses, those were added later for ease of reference. As we study it, we must take the verses in context of the book as a whole and the passage around it.

In the Galatians passage, the analogy is used to reinforce that sowing sinful actions (satisfying the flesh or our sinful nature) reaps the consequences of sin — death. And sowing actions in line with God’s Spirit (through prayer, Bible study, and obeying his commands) will reap eternal life. The overall message is that we should seek after a submissive relationship to God’s Spirit and let his Spirit reign in our thoughts, words, and actions. And the encouragement is not to grow weary, but to continue in doing good (sowing goodness in life through the fruit of the Spirit) because in the end we will reap a harvest!

In I Corinthians 3, Paul is addressing the divisions beginning in the church, in which some say they followed Paul, and others Apollos (the preacher who came after Paul). Paul’s point is, we are God’s servants, with each of us having a part and a role in serving him. In this case, Paul planted the seed of salvation among the Galatians, and Apollos was called to water it as a caretaker or gardener. Just like a plant needs more than just water to grow (and God provides the water too) ultimately, only God can make salvation grow in our hearts. It is a divine process. So we don’t worry about reaping what we sow, instead, we humbly submit to God and leave our rewards up to him.

The overall themes I see in these additional passages are: 1) We will reap what we sow. For example: as we sow peace, we reap righteousness, as we sow generosity, God will bless us with his generosity. As we focus on the disciplines in our walk with God’s Spirit, we will become like him, we will sow the fruits of his Spirit, as well. 2) Whether we sow or reap now, we are to do it all in the name of the Lord and for his glory and his benefit. In the end, he will reward us greatly for the good we have done and he will also judge those who sowed in evil and they will receive the just punishment for their actions. When we are mistreated or we do not get the fair results of our labor, we are still called to not grow weary in doing good.

When our focus is on serving God and not on fairness standards, we are able to also receive his good gifts to sustain us in his work. We work as unto the Lord, not men. Yes, it is nice to get recognition, appreciation, or even help in return from those we are serving. But we should not look to it for our strength to continue on.

Lord, thank you that I do not have to keep score in regard to sowing and reaping, but I can leave it to you and trust you with the results of my efforts. This is so freeing and keeps me from dissension, bitterness, and anger. You have given me sooooo very much — salvation, your Spirit, your sanctifying work in my heart — all I can do is serve you well as a joyful response to your wonderful gifts!