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Galatians 6:7 says, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” We have heard this quoted when people encourage us to give. So, do you reap what you sow when giving? Read or listen to this material from Your Finances God’s Way to learn the answer, or view the book details and study resources.
Table of Contents
Our God is a giver. He “gives to all life, breath, and all things” (Acts 17:25). He gives us abundant life: “I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). He gives us wisdom: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5). He gives us gifts: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17). The greatest gift God gave us is His Son: “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Romans 8:32 says, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with him freely give us all things?”
Ephesians 5:1 commands us to “be imitators of God,” which means we should give too. Proverbs 21:26 says, “The righteous gives and does not spare.” Why is giving righteous? God’s actions define righteousness. Because God gives, giving is righteous and makes us imitators of Him.
God Gives to Us So We Can Give to Others
In the parable of the unforgiving servant, the master rebuked the man: “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?” (Matthew 18:32-33). The wicked servant was condemned because he wouldn’t forgive as God had forgiven him. This reveals an important principle in Scripture: We should do for others what God has done for us. For example, we should love others because God loved us: “As I have loved you… you also love one another” (John 13:34). We should forgive others because God forgave us: “Forgive one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32). Regarding giving because God is a giver who has given so much to us, we should give to others.
Some spiritual gifts, such as teaching and leadership, seem like gifts because they benefit the person receiving them. However, other gifts, such as mercy and serving, don’t seem like gifts because they help others more than those who received them. This gives us insight into why God gives us gifts, which we must consider because God’s reason for giving gifts can differ from our reason.
We typically give gifts to bless the recipient, but God gives gifts to bless the recipient and so the recipient can bless others: “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace” (1 Peter 4:10). We can enjoy the gifts God has given us—for example, God has given me the gift of teaching, which I enjoy—but being good stewards of our gifts means using them for others’ benefit. This applies to all God has given us, including our wealth.
Let’s consider two of the parables. First, in the parable of the talents, the third servant buried his talent (gift) in the ground and was severely punished in response (Matthew 25:18, 30). The financial application is that when we keep our wealth to ourselves, we act like the third servant—we take what God has given us and, in a sense, bury it in the ground. Second, the parable of the rich fool reveals that we aren’t given wealth to keep it for ourselves. When we hoard our wealth, we’re acting like the rich fool.
In both parables, the men failed to use God’s generosity as intended: for others. God is generous with us so that we can be generous with others.
You Reap What You Sow
Many people, even those who have never opened the Bible, are familiar with the phrase, “You reap what you sow.” These words are taken from two passages in the New Testament. The first and most well-known is Galatians 6:7: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” The second is in Paul’s words about the Macedonian believers’ sacrificial giving, which served as an example to the Corinthians (and to us): “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (2 Corinthians 9:6). The amount of the harvest is directly proportionate to the amount sown. The farmer who sows much seed will harvest more than the farmer who sows sparingly.
Paul leaned on this agricultural principle to encourage generosity. Although this can be applied to other areas of life—for example, we typically get out of relationships what we put into them—the context is giving. The blessing received for giving is directly proportionate to the amount given. The Christian who gives generously will have a bigger harvest than the Christian who gives sparingly.
When a farmer sows seed, he might feel like he’s losing something as the seed he purchased falls from his hand to the ground. Similarly, we might feel like we’re losing something when the money we earned leaves our hand and goes toward the offering. But just as the farmer gives in anticipation of receiving more in the future, we can give with the same expectation. On the other hand, if a farmer planted only a few seeds to retain as much as possible, he would have more seeds in his sacks, but at harvest time, he would have less grain in his barn.
We know this principle is essential—it’s one God doesn’t want us to miss because it’s repeated throughout Scripture:
- “You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake” (Deuteronomy 15:10).
- “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine” (Proverbs 3:9-10; see also Proverbs 19:17; 22:9; 28:27).
- “One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered. The people curse him who holds back grain, but a blessing is on the head of him who sells it” (Proverbs 11:24-26).
- “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need” (Malachi 3:10).
Malachi 3:10 addressed Israel under the Mosaic covenant. For the separate question of whether Christians are commanded to tithe under the New Covenant, see what the Bible says about tithing in the New Testament.
In King Hezekiah’s day, the people generously supported the priests and Levites (2 Chronicles 31:5-7). When the chief priest described the situation, he said, “Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat and have plenty left, for the Lord has blessed his people; and what is left is this great abundance” (2 Chronicles 31:10). The people sowed generously, and God ensured they reaped bountifully.
Jesus loosely communicated the same principle: “Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:38). This imagery is uncommon to us, but it comes from the marketplace and would be familiar to Jesus’s hearers. When people purchased grain in those days, it was given to them in a container. Consider these descriptive terms for a complete picture of God’s generosity:
- “Good measure” means God gives generously versus meagerly
- “Pressed down, shaken together” means God fills the empty spaces so the container holds as much as possible
- “Running over” means God fills the container beyond its capacity
Although the imagery is from the marketplace, Jesus isn’t giving us shopping advice. Instead, the word parable is related to our word parallel because parables put physical stories alongside spiritual truths. Luke 6:38 illustrates God’s generosity to the generous, and God’s repeated use of the words “you” and “your” make it personal. Jesus wants us to think about this happening to us. John Bunyan wrote, “A man there was, though some did count him mad. The more he cast away, the more he had.”1
If We Give Enough, Will God Make Us Rich?
God provides a return on the amount invested with Him: invest a little, receive a little, invest a lot, and receive a lot. Does this mean that if we give a certain amount, God will give us more in return? Will He make us rich? For example, if we give the church $1,000 per month, will God ensure our boss gives us a $1,200 raise? That’s not how it works. Consider the situation with the Philippian believers, who resided in Macedonia and were among those who gave sacrificially to Paul. The apostle mentioned their generosity in Philippians 4:15-18 and then wrote in verse 19, “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” They were generous, and God would be generous to them. They would have every need met versus every want supplied. What are our needs? In 1 Timothy 6:8, Paul wrote, “If we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.” Our needs are food, clothing, and shelter. Fancy clothes, exotic food, and expensive mansions are wants. We don’t give to receive, but God wants us to know that He doesn’t ask that we give ourselves into poverty.
Do We Reap What We Sow in This Life or the Next?
What do we reap from what we sow: is it physical, spiritual, or both? Does the reaping occur in this life, the next, or both? John Calvin said we reap in this life and the next: “This harvest should be understood both in terms of the spiritual reward of eternal life and the earthly blessings with which God honors the [generous]. Not only in heaven does God reward the well-doing of the godly, but in this world as well.”2
We give now and experience God’s blessings in this life and receive rewards in heaven that we enjoy for eternity.
Consider this interaction between Peter and Jesus. Peter knew he and the disciples had “sown much” to follow Jesus, so he wondered what he would “reap” in the future:
Peter said, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?”
Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life (Matthew 19:27-29).
Receiving eternal life would be enough, but Jesus said we’ll receive eternal life and “a hundredfold.” I don’t know exactly what this will look like, but I do know God will reward us with far more than what we have done for Him. He will ensure we don’t outgive Him. With God, we will not be on the losing end. Because He tells us to avoid debt (Proverbs 22:7; Romans 13:8), we can be confident He won’t be in debt to anyone.
Giving has short and long-term benefits. We give now, experience God’s blessings in this life, and receive rewards in heaven that we enjoy for eternity.
God Gives Us Grace So We Can Give More
Paul said, “In a great trial of affliction, the [Macedonians’] abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality” (2 Corinthians 8:2). For them, the formula was affliction and poverty equals joy and generosity—the opposite of what we would expect. It’s reminiscent of the paradox two chapters earlier: “As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich” (2 Corinthians 6:10). When we’re sorrowful, we don’t rejoice, and when we’re poor, we don’t make others rich. But this was the case for the Macedonians.
How could the Macedonians give so much when they were in extreme poverty? There’s no natural answer, but the supernatural answer is in the previous verse: “We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia” (2 Corinthians 8:1). In context, ” grace ” refers not to spiritual graces but money and material needs. God supernaturally provided the Macedonians with what they needed. Their generosity is a good example, but God still receives the credit because His grace did it through them. Paul said something similar in the following chapter:
Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work (2 Corinthians 9:7-8).
The universals, or “alls,” are truly staggering: “…all grace…all sufficiency in all things at all times…in every [or all] good work.” Our resources are restricted. We have limited time, money, and energy, but God is unlimited. His infinite amount of grace allows Him to dispense it lavishly. He can “make all grace abound to [us], so that having all sufficiency [we] may abound in every good work.”
The Greek word translated as “sufficiency” means “a perfect condition of life in which no aid or support is needed.” Because the context is giving, the idea is that God supplies everything we need (no other support is necessary) if we’re generous. We can be confident that if we give, God gives us more so we can continue to give.
Think back to the principle of sowing and reaping. When it comes to sowing, we know it takes time to reap. We throw the seed into the ground and wait for it to grow. But Paul says that God replenishes while we give so we can give even more. We reap even while we’re sowing. Farmers must wait for their harvests, but generous believers begin to reap immediately. One of the paradoxes of the Christian life is that we gain as we give. If we honor God with what He has given us, He will bless us with more so that we can give even more. God blesses us so we can be more of a blessing to others.
2 Responses
Thanks for this information; I’ve read it repeatedly and found it speaking to me directly. I’ve nothing to say but to comply with what God has spoken to me. God bless you!
Hello Dismas,
Thank you for letting me know. I’m blessed this ministered to you.