FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

Scripture Reference: Galatians 6:1-10

Sharing Blessings – Continued

From last lesson: 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).

But the promise Paul gives us will help to keep us going: “In due season we shall reap.” The seed that is planted does not bear fruit immediately. There are seasons to the soul just as there are seasons to nature, and we must give the seed time to take root and bear fruit. How wonderful it is when the plowman overtakes the reaper (Amos 9:13). Each day we ought to sow the seed so that one day we will be able to reap (Psalm 126:5-6). But we must remember that the Lord of the harvest is in charge, and not the laborers.

Sharing blessings involves much more than teaching the Word and giving of our material substance. It also involves the command to “do good to all.” There are those in this world who absolutely relish doing evil (Psalm 34:16); in fact, there are those who return evil for good (Psalm 35:12). Most of the people in the world however do try to return good for good and evil for evil (see Luke 6:32-35; 1 Thessalonians 5:15). But the Christian is supposed to rise above the norm and thus return good for evil (Romans 12:18-21) and to do this in a spirit of Christian love. Actually, the Christian’s good works are a spiritual sacrifice that he gives to the Lord (Hebrew 13:16). When we give God’s love freely to all people, just as we give our material possessions to the cause of Christ, once given, it is between the recipient and God.

We are to “do good to all.” That word, “all,” leaves no one out. This is how we let our light shine and glorify our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16). It is not only by words that we witness to the lost, but also by our works. I have always taught that love given is action! In fact, our works pave the way for our verbal witness; they win us the right to be heard. It is not a question of asking, “Does this person deserve my good works?” Did we deserve what God did for us in Christ? Nor should we be like the defensive lawyer who tried to argue, “Who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:25-37) Jesus made it very clear that the question is not “Who is my neighbor?” but “To whom can I be a neighbor too?”

As we “do good to all [people],” we must give priority to “the household of faith,” the fellowship of believers. This does not mean that the local church should become an exclusive clique with the members isolated from the world around them and doing nothing to help the lost. Rather, it is a matter of balance. Certainly the believers in Paul’s day would have greater needs than would the outsiders, since many of the believers suffered for their faith (see Hebrews 10:32-34). Furthermore, a man should always care for his own family before he cares for the neighborhood (1 Timothy 5:8).

We must remember, however, that we share with other Christians so that all of us might be able to share with a needy world. The Christian in the household of faith is a receiver that he might become a transmitter, a distributor of faith, as it were. As we abound in love for one another, we overflow in love for all men (1 Thessalonians 3:12).

This is how it was meant to be and how it should be in the lives of true believers.

Adapted and modified excerpts from Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary Volume 1.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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

Adapted and modified excerpts from Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary Volume 1.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.