Just Sow It

I have a philosophy that I try to live by.  Whenever I experience what might be considered a loss, I try to dedicate that loss as a seed I sow.  I apply it in many areas of life, whether financially, relationally, socially, or whatever.

For example, if I am at a stop sign and someone goes ahead of me, even when I clearly have the right of way, I try to see it as something I am sowing into that person.  I could get irritated and be frustrated that others are so selfish and reckless that they would barge ahead of me, but that is really counterproductive.  It would just serve to ruin my attitude and introduce a flurry of negative thoughts and emotions into my day.  And it would not fix the issue- I would still have to go through the intersection after them.  So I just say to myself and God, “I consider that to be seed sown.”  That is a simple, real-life example of walking in love.

I am not going to lie and tell you I adhere to this 100 percent.  There are times when I mess up and react negatively.  And when I do, I can tell the difference in how I feel, both physically and emotionally.  The truth is, even if I do not take a positive attitude about a situation in which it appears I have been slighted or taken advantage of, I am still sowing a seed.  If I get irritated about it, it is still a seed I am sowing- a bad one.  A seed of anger and resentment will not produce a good harvest in my life, so I need to avoid it.  It’s just not worth getting upset.

Galations 6:7-8 (KJV) says,

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

The Message Bible (MSG) says it like this:

Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.

And James 3:18 (KJV) states:

And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. 

That same verse in the Amplified Bible Classic Edition (AMPC) is:

And the harvest of righteousness (of conformity to God’s will in thought and deed) is [the fruit of the seed] sown in peace by those who work for and make peace [in themselves and in others, that peace which means concord, agreement, and harmony between individuals, with undisturbedness, in a peaceful mind free from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts].

If you are lacking in peace, harmony and undisturbedness in your mind and life, then maybe, just maybe, you have been sowing the wrong seeds in your reactions and responses to others.  Each and every day we have multiple opportunities to choose our response to many, many situations.  In order to show the world the love of Jesus and for us to live good lives, we must react as if we are sowing into someone’s life, because, in reality, we are.  So, let’s make sure we are sowing seeds for a good harvest- both in our lives and the lives of others.