Don’t Give Up
With the climate of constant change we are living in, I wonder how many of us have been tempted to give up. We keep hearing things like:
“We’ll start school this date.”
“No, we’ve got to push it back.”
“We’ll start back church.”
“No, we need to push that back.”
“Masks aren’t required.”
“Masks are required.”
I don’t know about you, but I feel like as soon as I make a plan, the plan changes. This can be so frustrating! (Let me jump in and say that my husband is working in the hospital treating patients with COVID-19. It’s very real and we need to be cautious. Do your part to flatten the curve!) But the reality of this virus doesn’t change the reality of our feelings towards the impact it has had on our lives. So many of us are “over it!” and ready to move on, but because it is not over yet, a lot of us feel stuck.
The church in Galatians to which Paul was writing this letter would have felt much the same way. They were being heavily persecuted. They were probably tempted to give up. And Paul writes this encouragement:
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” - Galatians 6:9
His message is simple: No matter how hard it gets, don’t give up! Don’t stop doing good. Have you ever done something for someone else and didn’t receive a “thank you” in response? This can be super frustrating and hurtful. In our society, when we do something good for someone else, we want to see the result of it right then- in real time. When we pray for someone to know Jesus, we want to see them turn to God right away. The reality is, sometimes we pray for years and still see no outward change. Paul reminds us of a very important lesson in the second part of this verse, “at the PROPER time we will reap a harvest.” Other translations say, “at the RIGHT time.” God’s timeline often doesn’t match ours. He wants us to “not become weary of doing good,” to “not give up” even when we don’t see the harvest (the result). He reminds us that our job is to love others unconditionally, His department is the harvest.
Right above this, Paul writes: “For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” Galatians 6:8
Ouch! This is convicting to me. If I am sowing in the Spirit, I will reap eternal life and I will also reap spiritual fruit here on earth. If I am sowing in the flesh (focused on myself, living selfishly), I will reap corruption from the flesh. The chapter prior to this one, Galatians 5, gives us a clear picture of what life in flesh and life in the Spirit look like. Paul says, “the acts of the flesh are obvious” and then he names: “sexual immorality & impurity, idolatry, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambitions, division, envy, drunkenness.” In contrast, Paul tells us that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control.”
Ouch again! Some of those hurt. How often do my words and actions fit more in the fruit of the flesh than the fruit of the Spirit? How often do I exhibit “fits of rage” more than I show patience? How often do I seek selfish ambition instead of showing self-control? It’s easy to feel defeated when we begin to examine our actions and words.
But I wonder in the midst of the constant change we find ourselves in, if today we need to hear the reminder: DON’T GIVE UP!
Keep at it. Keep sowing seeds of the Spirit, uprooting and removing deeds of the flesh like the weeds that they are, and in the proper time, in His time, you WILL reap a Harvest of Spiritual blessings. It is a promise. Let’s be encouraged today!
Prayer: Father, help us to crucify the flesh within us- with its passions and desires. Help us to live by your Spirit. Let us keep in step with the Spirit. (Galatians 5: 24-25). Give us the strength we need to not grow weary of doing good, but to keep sowing seeds of the Spirit. Seeds of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. Knowing that if we sow Spiritual seeds, in your time, by the power of your Spirit, in you, we will bear this Spiritual fruit. Amen.
