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Planting and Harvesting
We’ve touched on this topic briefly, but in this chapter we’ll dig deeper into how our daily decisions affect life as a whole. Today is the day to prepare for tomorrow’s harvest. Let’s learn how to grow into maturity by sowing the seeds of joy with intent and purpose.
If a farmer plants corn, he can expect to reap corn. If he plants wheat, he’ll reap wheat. Obvious, right? What if he planted weeds, thorns, and briars? Could he expect to reap wheat, corn, or anything of value? Of course not. Yet this is exactly what we do in our daily lives. We invest our lives in valueless endeavors, but then we expect to be fruitful. If I invest my time and energy in negativism, can I expect a return of peace, joy, or happiness? Can I expect a cheerful outlook when I’m cultivating negative emotions in my heart and mind?
The next time you wonder, “Why am I so down?” stop and examine your investments. Consider the words of Galatians 6:7-9
7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.
9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
Remember our earlier discussions about the flesh? The flesh cannot produce anything but the things of the flesh. To reap the things we value as Christians, we must sow in the Spirit. Only then can peace, love, and joy come to maturity in our lives.
Let’s look deeper into this and see how to apply it to everyday life. We’ll look at sowing in the Spirit in a moment, but first let’s look at the contrast between sowing for either corruption or good. Well doing begins in the heart. We are commanded to love others and to do good from a pure heart. It’s not possible to serve God and do good works without first dealing with your own heart.
Can you produce good from a heart that is destined to reap corruption? Certainly not. We establish good works from a heart that has already been established in the grace of the Lord. All good comes from God. We receive from God, grow in grace, and then God’s goodness comes out in our lives.
The first warning in the above passage is, God is not mocked. The word mocked comes from the Greek word, ‘mukterizo’, which means: to thumb the nose.
Few of us would think of ourselves as thumbing our noses at God, but there is a significant truth for us to consider. When David sinned, God said, “You have despised Me.” When the people refused to live in obedience, God said, “You have no right to claim my covenant seeing you hate instructions and cast my words behind you.”[1]
To know the truth and to cast it behind us is to mock God. This is true even if the truth we reject seems insignificant to us. It’s the little things that lay the foundation for the bigger things of life.
This chapter might come across as a little harsh, but hang with me here. This isn’t intended to be judgmental. It’s the straight truth. And it’s what I’ve had to learn the hard way (and am still learning). Sometimes we need a good jolt every now and then. It’s far too easy to get into a funk and stay there, but applying these truths forces us into action.
The harsh reality is when we need to apply God’s principles the most, we want to do it the least. Yet to neglect these things puts us on a path of grief. We need to be reminded by someone who cares enough to stand in our way and tell us we are making foolish decisions. And that is what some of these hard scriptures are doing. They may sound harsh, but it is the voice of God’s love.
Every time I choose to neglect the word, I am making a foolish choice. The choice is not only affecting my momentary state, but I’m setting in motion a harvest in my life which will either benefit me, or further corrupt my heart.
Before I go on, let me qualify my above statement. The corruption we experience is our life in the flesh. While it’s hard not to doubt our salvation when we drift far from God, the truth is that the consequences of our choices aren’t necessarily speaking of eternal life. There are consequences and rewards. We’ll be held accountable for the life we live in this world, but this doesn’t mean the Christian will lose eternal life. But it does mean we will regret our bad choices.
If we care nothing about spiritual things, the Bible calls us to examine ourselves to see if we are truly in the faith. This chapter isn’t intended to create doubt, but to show us how to find confidence. The consequences of disregarding God’s word are often in this life as well as forfeiting many promises in the life to come.
For example, the Corinthian church had a man living in a very immoral lifestyle. Though later he was restored, while he was actively living in corruption, the following instruction was given to the church, “Deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”[2]
His life was put into turmoil for the purpose of facing consequences now, rather than facing Christ for the consequences later. The corruption of his flesh became the consequences for his foolish actions, but it served to turn his heart to the Lord for the purpose of reconciliation – not judgment. Though he could have stiffened his neck and forced judgment, he recognized the error of his ways, repented, and was restored.[3]
Regardless of how shallow or deep we sin, the same principle applies to us. God will allow us to reap the consequences of our choices now so we have the opportunity to turn away from our own ways and toward Him. Sadly, most people never recognize the cause of their grief. They continue to invest their lives in negative behavior and wonder why they are reaping emotional damage, broken relationships, and other consequences.
I witnessed someone I care about go through this very situation. Little things bothered them. While all of us are bothered by little annoyances, this person took each annoyance into their heart and cultivated it like a cherished seed. They watered it with anger, fertilized it with bitterness, and nurture it with frustration. They could let nothing go, but everything they disliked became an offense and viewed as a threat. Their entire life was spent brooding and lashing out in anger. Before long, their problems were deep rooted and stood as a mountain of emotional turmoil in their life.
I’ve had many conversations with them and I get frustrated watching them. It bothers me to see them ignoring every biblical principle, and instead choosing to embrace the things that make them miserable. Life is unhappy, and until there is a change of attitude, life will always be unhappy. In fact, unless there is a change of behavior, it will get worse from here.
The truth is, each time they invest their lives into negative emotions, they are also teaching their minds to develop negative habits. The mind is like a muscle. What you invest in will become its strength. An athlete invests their time and energy into the sport they love. The result is mental reflexes and a sharpened ability which helps them excel in that sport. Some people love math (though I don’t know how this is possible). As they exercise their mind, math becomes easier and they excel deeper into this skill. The same is true for any form of academic skill, physical talent, or way of thinking. This means it’s also true for how we think in our daily lives.
If we develop a good attitude, we are building thought patterns which change our outlook to positive behaviors. If we develop a bad attitude, we are also teaching our minds to think in negative ways. When any situation arises where we need to engage our minds, what thought pattern do you think the mind will follow? It will be the way we have developed our ways of thinking. Everyone will have negative situations that challenge them, but those who have developed strong positive attitudes can better overcome negative emotions than those who have invested their lives into negative attitudes.
Each person will reap what they have sown into their life.
You and I have the power to derail negative emotions if we so choose, but the truth is, if I do not control my emotions on little things, I will not have the mental strength to control them on the big things. What I have invested my life in is what will come out in my character.
I had a coworker some years ago who was struggling with his emotions, and he explained his problem better than anyone I’ve met. He just didn’t know how to handle stress. He explained his problem this way. “When you squeeze an orange, what comes out? Orange juice. When pressure hits, what is inside is what is going to come out.”
He understood his own problem. When you press an orange, what is inside is what comes out. Painting an orange a different color won’t change what’s inside. In the same way, putting on a happy mask doesn’t change your emotional make up. Most of us can put up a front to others, but when stress arises, what is inside will be what comes out in your life. Therefore, you need to begin changing what is inside. And how do we do this? The secret is found in a passage we looked at previously – Philippians 4:4-8
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!
5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;
7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things.
Is this part of your daily life? When your mind is idle, do you meditate on these things? Or do you think upon the things that offend you? We all wrestle with this, though some have a more difficult time than others. For much of my life I allowed my idle mind to brood on the things that bothered me. It only built anger inside and set a pattern of thought in motion which affected many areas of my life. I can remember throwing many pity parties. Rarely did a day go by that I didn’t meditate upon my frustrations.
One day the veil was pulled back and the Lord opened my eyes. I was wallowing in my usual state of feeling sorry for myself and then my thoughts shifted. I realized when I moped, no one came to console me. In fact, my attitude pushed people away. No one wants to hang around a sulky person. As I stepped back and looked at myself, I realized that no one cares if I’m feeling sorry for myself. I should have figured this out long ago, for I don’t rush to join someone else’s pity party either.
That was the day I began changing my way of thinking. But it isn’t something that comes easy. In fact, just the other day, I was riding in the car and in a pleasant mood, but my mind slipped back into the old way of thinking. I thought of an event that happened over twenty five years ago. It was something from my military days and without realizing it, I allowed my mind to run free for a few minutes.
I didn’t realize what I was doing until my anger started rising. It was a rather unpleasant situation, but certainly not worth revisiting after two and a half decades. Sometimes these memories serve to remind us of our need to forgive a wrong done. It may be that we need to pray for the person who wronged us. Once I realized my mind was brooding, I turned my focus away from it and found relief from these negative feelings. Looking at this I realize how true the scriptures’ teachings are, and what a great benefit they have in our lives.
There was a time when I couldn’t turn it off. I even enjoyed brooding over my problems and the wrongs done. Even thoughts of vengeance seemed pleasant. Yet, how easy it now is to put this thought away shows the value of God’s ways. Once we establish ourselves in the word, it becomes easier to turn our hearts to what is good.
Looking back, I remember my parents asking why I was always down. I also remember a class mate stopping me and saying, “Why is it that you always have a frown on your face? Are you ever not sad or mad?” Another church friend in my youth group once said to me, “You are always talking bad about people. Don’t you ever have anything good to say?”
I never forgot his question, for it cut me deeply. I didn’t like having this type of reputation and it made me aware of my behavior. This is why the Bible says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend.” This person wounded me, but not by attacking me as a person. He pointed out my negative behavior. It wounded me in a way that revealed my need to change. I doubt those around me would say this about me today.
At the root of the problem was the focus on negative things. As long as my focus was on the bad, it came out in both my attitude and in my conversations.
The scriptures give a clear path to follow so we can reprogram our way of thinking. The ultimate problem is this battle between our flesh and the Spirit. Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.[4] We discussed this several chapters back, but this is where it directly applies to our lives.
Your flesh will war against your mind and seek to draw you back into captivity. It’s the call of two voices. In your flesh, you are called to submit back into bondage, but the Spirit of God that dwells within you[5] calls with the voice of wisdom. One call is to feed the passions of the flesh – including negative emotions, but God’s call is to ‘dwell on these things’ as mentioned above and walk in the Spirit. One seeks to dominate your life; the other is to lead you into the joy of the Lord.
When you are feeling overwhelmed by temptation (and yes, brooding is a temptation), it’s time to stop and remember the promise of God. “My old nature was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that I should no longer be a slave of sin.”[6]
If I try to resist the emotions that enslave me, I find I’m powerless to overcome. The reason is because ‘I’ am trying to overcome through my own strength. Yet, when I look to Christ with eyes of faith and claim the promise, it is not ‘I’ who am fighting my flesh, but the Spirit of God, who has transformed me into this new life by faith, who also renews my mind by faith. I step out of the old nature which once enslaved me and into the spirit, by faith. It is God who delivered me, and I no longer have to submit myself to the bondage of my old passions.
I must want freedom before I will leave bondage.
When negative emotions seek to take over my mind, I remind myself and my flesh that the body of death has been done away with. It no longer has power over me. I do have the right to submit myself back into its power, but it does not have the power to overcome me, because my strength is the Lord and not my own abilities.
There is an interesting life-hack that can help when we are in the midst of runaway emotions. When we are angry, or feeling emotionally out of control, our brains send our thoughts down the pathways we have empowered and strengthened over the years. Once our thoughts are racing, it is hard to stop the emotional flood. But there is a brain hack that can derail that emotional train.
Ask yourself a question that forces rational thought. Normally, we are asking ourselves, “Why does this keep happening?” Or, “Why did this person do this to me?” “Why me?” and many other such questions that keep feeding the emotional engines that are out of control.
Instead, ask yourself, “What is the best solution to resolve this?” “How do I apply the principles I am learning so that I have a good outcome?” Or even, “Lord, how do I trust you, and live out my faith in the challenges I am facing?”
An interesting thing happens when you ask a question that requires a well thought out answer. It derails the out of control emotions because they are running in the automatic part of your brain, but you just engaged the part of your brain that analyzes and seeks for resolutions.
When I say, “Why does this always happen to me?” I am tossing more emotional energy into the auto-response, and your mind will answer that question with more reasons to be upset, and more examples that affirm your question.
However, when you ask your mind for a resolution, you have flipped a switch that emotions can’t pile through. Then you start looking for solutions, new ways of handling problems, and opportunities to trust God and see His hand in your life and in your problems. If emotions try to flip the switch back, keep asking, “What will give me positive results?” “How do I trust when I can’t yet see what God is going to do?” “How do I apply the Bible to my life in this situation, and in what ways can I expect good even when things don’t make sense? How do I apply what I believe?” This also forces you to take your focus off the flesh, and turn it back to Christ where you are empowered in the Spirit.
Not only does this work with our emotions, but asking healthy questions also diffuses conflicts. When someone is lashing out in anger, and you ask, “What do you think is a good resolution,” or “What do you hope to accomplish in this discussion?” it derails their emotions, and forces them into a resolution mindset. That is much more productive than pointing out their faults and failures.
You and I can respond to negative situations without falling back into negative behaviors. It’s not easy to keep the flesh from reacting with negative attitudes. In fact, it’s impossible when I’m looking to myself. When I feel myself slipping, it’s a reminder to look back to the cross where my deliverance was accomplished. It’s the power of God, not the power of self.
Temptation is the flesh calling for me to take my eyes off of Christ and to look to something else. It could be desires, negativism, pride, or anything other than Christ. Repentance is God’s call for me to take my eyes off everything else but Christ. Turn to Him and receive His power to overcome.
This is where the moment of decision arises. My flesh calls me to submit my mind back under its power, but God’s Spirit of wisdom says, “Turn to Me.” Look at the call of God’s wisdom in Proverbs 1:
20 Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares.
22 “How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, And fools hate knowledge.
23 Turn at my rebuke; Surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.
Do you realize the power of this promise? “Turn at my rebuke…and I will pour out my spirit on you.” What is the rebuke of wisdom? You are doing things your way, and God is calling you to turn to Him and follow the Spirit.
Stop and look at your life. Are your ways working? When you blow up in anger, does it accomplish good? Does brooding and cultivating frustration produce any good fruit in your heart or life? It will always do the opposite. It produces more anger, more frustration, and more pain.
You may say, “I can’t overcome these things.” Welcome to the club. I said the same thing, but for most of my life I missed the point. Turn at God’s rebuke and He will pour out His spirit upon you. His power is your strength to overcome.
The fool hates knowledge. Such was I. Perhaps this also applies to you. How so? When God reveals the knowledge to overcome, and we choose our own ways, it is a rejection of knowledge. When you begin responding to God’s call, you won’t understand how any of this will work, and that’s okay. The promise also is, “I will make my words known to you.” It isn’t until you believe God and turn to Him by faith that you begin to understand. The call comes first, we then believe and respond or disbelieve and reject. If we respond and turn to wisdom, understanding will follow. It may not be an instant understanding, but as we put our trust in God’s ways, understanding will begin to dawn in our hearts.
Let me reiterate what I mentioned earlier. When you are in the heat of passion – whether that be anger, jealousy, lust, bitterness, etc. – you will not want to turn toward the call of wisdom. At least not until you begin to mature in these ways. Your desire will first be to give yourself over to anger, frustration, bitterness, and selfish brooding. God calls, but so does the flesh. When you answer God, surely He will pour out His Spirit upon you and the flesh no longer has power over your mind or life. Yet, if you reject that call, you are sowing the things which bring future consequences.
Remember when we read that God isn’t snubbed? What we sow into our lives we will reap. This is also reiterated in this instruction in Proverbs 1. Let’s continue to read:
24 Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded,
25 Because you disdained all my counsel, And would have none of my rebuke,
26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes,
27 When your terror comes like a storm, And your destruction comes like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you.
28 “Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.
29 Because they hated knowledge And did not choose the fear of the LORD,
30 They would have none of my counsel And despised my every rebuke.
31 Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, And be filled to the full with their own fancies.
Now is the day to turn to the right way. Don’t wait until you want deliverance from the consequences.
This is a hard teaching. However, this passage is not saying we can never have mercy again. I can speak from my own experiences that indeed we can turn and find deliverance. This passage is warning that there are consequences. If someone warns me that putting my hand in a fire will burn me, and I ignore the warning, will I get burned? Certainly. When burned, if I repent, will I still have blisters? You bet I will.
This is also true when it comes to wisdom’s call. It especially applies to our discussion on emotions. If God warns that if we submit ourselves to anger, bitterness, and other things of the flesh we will have consequences, but we choose to do so anyway, what will happen? God’s warning will be true. At some point we may recognize the consequences of our actions and look to the Lord for deliverance.
While He will fulfill His promises when we respond by faith, He does not promise to remove the consequences. But this does not mean He doesn’t show us mercy and receive us into His arms. In fact, He will be our strength as we work through the consequences.
A raging man may allow his temper to control him and do violence. I’ve done prison ministry and met many such men. Some are in for murder, some assault, and many other crimes done through uncontrolled passion. Some of these men are truly sorry for their actions and are making a sincere change. However, they will still pay the consequences for their sins.
I watched a show where a news station worked with police to set up a sting to capture people seeking underage relationships. I watched this show as dozens of men were arrested. In the interrogation room, three of these men revealed they were Christians. All three said something to the effect of, “Something kept telling me, don’t do it. Don’t go. But I didn’t listen.”
That was the voice of wisdom. Now they are all repentant, but not one of them escaped justice. If they had turned at Wisdom’s rebuke, they would have escaped, yet because they refused, they will all eat the fruit of their own way. God forgives their sin, but does not negate the consequences of their actions.
The same is true for you. When your passions rise up and call you to obey, you will also hear the call of wisdom. If you turn, God promises to empower you by His Spirit. Turning is not merely resisting, for then you are still in the flesh. The flesh profits nothing and you can’t overcome the flesh with mere human effort.
Turning means you turn your heart and mind to the cross, believe God’s word, which promises you have been delivered and your flesh has been put to death with its passions and desires, and receive God’s spirit of deliverance by faith.
Begin cultivating a heart of faith now. What you sow, you will reap. Sow the word into your life by reading and studying the word. Sow through praying in the Spirit. Sow by setting your heart on the things above, not on the things of this world. Sow by thinking upon these things: things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, of virtue, and are praiseworthy. Let’s again review the promise found in Philippians 4:7
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Guarding your heart and mind is not your role. It is God who promises to be your guard and the provider of peace. If you do these things, God will fulfill His promises. If you sow in the Spirit, you will reap these things of the Spirit. Cultivate the good things of God in your heart and your emotions will then be built on that foundation.
Don’t build your life upon emotions, but build emotions upon a Spirit filled life.
This is God’s will and desire for you. Live by Wisdom’s call and be abundantly blessed!
Life Applications
- Memorize Galatians 5:8
- Think upon the call of wisdom. In what ways do you feel God is calling you to change?
- Determine to turn from your negative behaviors as you turn toward God for strength.
- Decide now that if you catch yourself acting out in negative ways, you’ll stop yourself – even if you are in mid-sentence or in the middle of the action.
- Read through Proverbs 1 each day for the next week.
- Practice positive outcome questions, such as, How do I resolve this problem, or How do I handle this in a way that builds me up in faith?
- Review the previous Life Applications.
[1] Psalm 50
[2] 1 Corinthians 5:5
[3] 2 Corinthians 2
[4] Galatians 5:24
[5] 1 Corinthians 3:16
[6] Romans 6:6