Scripture Reference: Galatians 6:1-10
Sharing Blessings – Continued
From last lesson: God has also told us to be careful where we sow, and it is this principle that Paul deals with here. He looks on our material possessions as seed, and he sees two possible kinds of soil: the flesh and the Spirit.
Of course, there is a much wider application of the principle to our lives; because all that we do is either an investment in the flesh or the Spirit. We shall reap whatever we have sown, and we shall reap in proportion as we have sown. “He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (2 Corinthians 9:6). The believer who walks in the Spirit and “sows” in the Spirit is going to reap a spiritual harvest. If his sowing has been generous, the harvest will be bountiful, if not in this life, certainly in the life to come.
Paul’s enemies, the Judaizers, did not have this spiritual attitude toward giving and receiving. Paul sacrificed and labored that he might not be a burden to the churches, but the false teachers used the churches to promote their own schemes and fill their own coffers. This is also what happened in the Corinthian church, and Paul had to write them: “In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or slaps you in the face” (2 Corinthians 11:20, NIV).
How many times we have seen the sacrificing godly pastor persecuted and driven out, while the arrogant promoter is honored and gets everything he wants. The carnal believer thrives under the “spiritual dictatorship” of a legalistic promoter-pastor, because it makes him feel secure, successful, and spiritual. The carnal believer will sacrifice what he has to make the work more successful, only to discover when it is far to late, that he is sowing to the flesh and not to the Spirit.
Having given us the precept in verse 6, and the principle behind the precept in verses 7–8, Paul now gives us a promise in verse 9: “In due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” Behind this promise is a peril: getting weary in the work of the Lord, and then eventually losing heart, our motivation, thus stopping our ministry in its tracks.
Sometimes spiritually “losing heart” is caused by a lack of devotion to the Lord. It is interesting to contrast two churches that are commended for “work, labor, and patience” (1 Thessalonians 1:3; Revelation 2:2). The church at Ephesus had actually left its first love and was backslidden (Revelation 2:4-5). Why? The answer is seen in the commendation to the Thessalonian church: “Work of faith, labor of love, patience of hope.” Not just work, labor, and patience, but the proper motivation: “faith, love, and hope.” How easy it is for us to work for the Lord, but permit the spiritual motivation to die. Like the priests of Israel that Malachi addressed, we serve the Lord but complain, “Oh, what a weariness!” (Malachi 1:13).
Sometimes we “lose heart” because of lack of prayer. “Men always ought to pray and not to lose heart” (Luke 18:1). Paul also told us to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Prayer is to the spiritual life what breathing is to the physical life, and if you stop breathing, you will faint. It is also possible to faint because of lack of nourishment. “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” (Matthew 4:4). If we try to keep going without proper food and rest, we will faint. How important it is to “wait on the Lord” to get the strength we need spiritually for each day (Isaiah 40:28-31).
To Be Continued
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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