Sowing and Reaping [Annotated, Updated]: Whatever a man sows that shall he also reap. – Galatians 6:7

by Dwight L. Moody

There are some passages in the Word of God that do not need any other proof than that which we can easily find in our daily experience.

all must reap what they sow.

the law of sowing and reaping is the law of cause and effect, the law of retribution or retaliation, and the law of compensation.

every person scatters seed at every step as he journeys through life. The seed consists of his thoughts, words, and actions. They pass from him, and in time (it may be sooner or later), they spring up and bear fruit, and the reaping time comes.

Life is to be regarded as a seedtime. Everyone has a field to sow, to cultivate, and finally, to reap. We are cultivating the seed for the coming harvest by our habits, by our interaction with friends and companions, and by exposing ourselves to good or bad influences. We cannot see the seed as it grows and develops, but time will reveal it.

It is a solemn thing to think that the future will be the harvest of the present – that my condition in my dying hour may depend upon my actions today! Belief in a future life and in a coming judgment magnifies the importance of the present. Eternal issues depend upon it. The opportunity for sowing will not last forever; it is slipping through our fingers moment by moment, and the future can only reveal the harvest of the seed sown now.

People are constantly sacrificing their eternal future to the passing enjoyment of the present moment. They fail or neglect to recognize the dependence of the future upon the present.

Sin has deceived us. Every sinner is under a delusion. Sin meets him cheerfully and offers him pleasures and delights that are not pure and lasting.

How careful we should be of our actions in all departments of our being – physical, moral, and intellectual! The deeds we do, the words we speak, and the thoughts we harbor are all recorded and will meet their just reward, for God is no respecter of persons.

the more obvious sins is the only way of sowing to the flesh. Every desire and every action that does not have God as its end and object is seed sown to the flesh.

Sowing to the Spirit implies denying self, resisting evil, obeying the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, living in the Spirit, and being guided by the Spirit.

is a fixed law that you reap the same kind of seed you sow.

A man who steals my wallet suffers more than I do.

Wherever you find a sharp, shrewd man, you will always find that he attracts the same kind of people around him, and that he who cheats will himself be cheated. “Birds of a feather flock together.”

Every lie is bound to come back to you.

It takes a long time to build up a character, but you can destroy it in a single hour.

Nothing but Leaves Nothing but leaves! The Spirit grieves O’er years of wasted life; O’er sins indulged while conscience slept, O’er vows and promises unkept, And reap, from years of strife – Nothing but leaves! Nothing but leaves! Nothing but leaves! No gathered sheaves Of life’s fair ripening grain: We sow our seeds; lo! tares and weeds, Words, idle words, for earnest deeds – Then reap, with toil and pain, Nothing but leaves! Nothing but leaves! Nothing but leaves! Sad memory weaves No veil to hide the past; And as we trace our weary way, And count each lost and misspent day, We sadly find at last – Nothing but leaves! Nothing but leaves! Ah, who shall thus the Master meet, And bring but withered leaves? Ah, who shall, at the Savior’s feet, Before the awful judgment seat, Lay down, for golden sheaves, Nothing but leaves! Nothing but leaves! – Lucy Evilena Akerman

Every sin grows.

The grace of God binds people together, but sin tears them apart and separates them.

It is easy to follow other people’s leads and to swim with the tide, but it requires character and moral backbone to stand against the current of popular opinion and practice.

It is a masterpiece of the devil to make us believe that children cannot understand Christianity.