Galatians Part 13 | Chapter 6:7-10

Last updated on Apr 20, 2026

Introduction

These passages will build upon truths we have already learned. Previously we looked at what it means for a Christian to truly walk with the Holy Spirit and how that keeps us on the path that God desires for us. By continuously walking with the Spirit we grow in our maturity and then God will use us to help others. We saw this specifically in chapter 6 where we are called to restore our fellow Christians with a spirit of gentleness and bear their burdens — we cannot do this if we are not ourselves walking with the Spirit.

This week we will look at the impact of our decision to either obey the Holy Spirit or our sinful nature, using the metaphor of sowing and reaping. To obey the Holy Spirit is to plant good seed, while to obey our sinful nature is to plant bad seed. There will be a reaping and a harvest of all the seeds we have planted, and what that harvest looks like will depend on the types of seeds we planted. By continuously walking with the Spirit we can be sure that we are sowing good seeds and will have a harvest that reaps righteousness instead of corruption.

Does what I do with my life matter? The concept of sowing and reaping is used to reinforce the importance of walking with the Spirit.

Sowing and Reaping | Galatians 6:7–10

Read Galatians 6:7–10

The cause and effect of sowing and reaping is used as a metaphor in the Scriptures to convey that there is always a return on what we do with our lives — both in quality and in quantity.

If you sow the good seeds of an apple tree you reap a large tree that produces wonderful and delicious apples.
If you sow dandelion seeds, then you reap dandelions.
If you plant 1 row of corn, then 1 row of corn is what you will reap.
If you plant 100 rows of corn, then 100 rows of corn is what you will reap.

This concept of sowing and reaping is portrayed in several places in the Scriptures.

Hosea 10:12 — "Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you." ("Fallow" ground is ground that has not yet been plowed.)

Proverbs 1:31 — "therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices."

Job 4:8 — "As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same."

There Will Be a Harvest

Regardless of what type of seed is planted, a harvest will come. Regardless of whether we choose to live our lives walking in the Spirit or give in to the desires of our sinful nature, there will be a harvest — a result of those decisions. So then we can choose what kind of harvest we want to receive.

Do we want a harvest that leads to righteousness and blessing from God that furthers His Kingdom? Or do we desire a harvest that reaps misery and despair that is contrary to the desires of God?

Either way there will be a harvest, and it is up to us what type of harvest we will obtain.

Our Lives Are Like a Field — and We Can Choose What We Are Going to Do with It

If we use the imagery of an unplowed field to portray our life, we find that we have essentially three different things we can do with it. We can do nothing, we can plant bad seed, or we can plant good seed — though our lives always end up being a mixture of both good and bad.

We Can Choose to Simply Do Nothing with Our Lives

We can look upon the vast unplowed ground that is our life and simply choose to do nothing with it. Instead of planting any seeds that will grow and reap a harvest we simply leave it as it is. There will be small growth — but they will just be weeds and grass. It will never produce anything of great worth or value, nor does it produce anything significantly bad.

One who lives this way will never have a significant impact in the lives of others. This is someone who is content to simply sit on the sidelines and not do anything productive. They might not be out there sowing bad seeds that cause others to stumble or tear down God's Kingdom, but it certainly isn't going to uplift it either.

The end result of one who does nothing will reap a worthless harvest — signifying a wasted life. This harvest will not uplift the Kingdom of God; it is instead a wasted field that could have been planted with seeds that could have done great things. God has NOT called us to do nothing with our field — He has called us to plow and plant good seed.

A Christian can unfortunately reflect one with an unplanted field — for example, a Christian who does as little for the Kingdom of God as possible, essentially on the church rolls but nothing more.

💬 Discussion Questions

Why are some drawn to live their lives with an unplanted field?
Why are Christians drawn to live this way?
Is this ever something that God wants or has planned for us?

We Can Choose to Plow and Sow the Field with the Flesh — the Deeds of Our Sinful Nature

The worst thing we can do with the field that is our life is to plow and plant bad seed. To live our lives fulfilling the desires of our sinful nature will only ever plant bad and undesirable seed. This seed is anything our sinful nature desires — anything contrary to the nature of God. This is every sinful action, thought or willful disobedience.

Every bad seed we plant will grow and have an impact. We might think that our sins don't have any lasting or greater impact, but this simply isn't true. When we fulfill the desires of the flesh, that action will have consequences — it will bring a harvest of corruption.

Galatians 6:8a — "For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption." ("Corruption" means decomposition, destruction, decay.)

Every bad seed — no matter how small — will bring corruption. The bad seeds will have a lasting negative impact on us, especially if we keep watering them. It has lasting impact long past the brief moment in time when we gave into sin.

Let's be clear that God will forgive any and all sin, but that forgiveness does not mean there are never any lasting consequences.

The bad seed will grow to impact our character, our walk with God and our witness. We cannot sin and expect zero consequences — there is always some impact to our character, our witness, to others, or in the form of worldly consequences. Examples include:

Using the gifts and abilities that God has given us to fulfill our sinful desires
Instead of investing our money into the Kingdom of God, spending it to satisfy our selfish wants
Showing hate and disregard instead of compassion and mercy
Lying, stealing, deceiving, immorality, jealousy, and so on

Left unchecked these bad seeds will grow like weeds and suck the life out of even the good fruit that we produce. Just like in a garden where a mixture of good fruit and weeds grow, if not tended the weeds can stifle the life out of the good fruit. If we let the bad seed become what we primarily plant and water, it is guaranteed it will overshadow the good.

Our bad seed can also affect others. Not only does our bad seed and its harvest affect our own lives, but it can affect others too — kind of like when your yard is full of dandelions, it is inevitable that they will blow onto the neighbors. No one else is ever going to be grateful for your sin and disobedience to God.

The harvest of the bad seed will come. Eventually we will have to reap a harvest of our bad seed, and it is not something we want to receive. That harvest might not be felt immediately, but in due time it will. If you have been planting and watering that bad seed, you will have to endure the consequences.

To be sure, not everything "bad" that happens to us is a result of this — Scripture is clear that many times our trials and tribulations have nothing to do with any sin we committed (consider Job or the blind man in John chapter 9). But there is a reaping of our sinful deeds that is a result of our actions. It can come in the form of punishment, worldly consequences, lost blessings, and more. Regardless of what it looks like, it will come.

💬 Discussion Questions

Do you think when we plant "bad seeds" that we ever stop to consider the long-term impact they can have on us or others? Do we think they are insignificant?
Have you ever experienced your bad seed growing and stifling out the good in your own life?

We Can Choose to Plow and Sow Our Field with the Seeds of the Holy Spirit

In contrast to sowing bad seeds, we can instead sow our field with the fruit of the Holy Spirit. This seed is everything that we do as a result of the guidance of the Holy Spirit — living it out and producing the fruit of the Spirit.

Galatians 5:22 — "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness."

It is serving others, loving others, being there for others, putting others before ourselves.

Every good seed we plant will grow and have an impact. Every seed — no matter how small — will have a positive and significant impact to either our own Christian walk or in the lives of others. We might think that being obedient in what we consider an insignificant action couldn't really have a significant impact. But in truth it will be significant even if we cannot see it right now. Examples include:

Obediently spending time in prayer and the Scriptures on a frequent basis — that small action can have a significant impact on our spiritual maturity and our relationship with God.
Obediently sharing the Gospel with one whom the Holy Spirit has led you to speak with — you might not be the one who ultimately leads them to Christ, but you planted the seed that would eventually blossom into salvation.
The usher who seated Billy Graham at a tent revival — Mr. Graham was going to leave, but because of the usher making an effort to seat him and get him to stay, it changed the course of his life and countless others.
The person in your life who helped guide you to Christ — that one small seed of obedience had a profound impact on your life.

We should strive to plant more good seed than bad. Our lives are NOT measured by comparing our good and bad — that's not how we get to heaven. But Christians should strive to be sure that we are planting more good seed than bad. We do this by continuously walking with the Spirit.

The harvest of the good seed will come. Just as the harvest of bad seed comes, so will there be a harvest of the good seed. We may not see it right away, but in God's time there will be a harvest of all the good seed we have planted. Christians should plan and look forward to this harvest just as a farmer who desires an abundant crop.

The farmer desires to reap a bountiful harvest of good fruit, so he plans and works hard sowing good seed. Likewise, the Christian should also look forward to reaping a bountiful harvest. The Christian should work hard at sowing good seed by walking with the Spirit and being obedient. This should drive us in every moment of our lives.

Galatians 6:10 — "So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith."

We must be PATIENT and not give up if we are not seeing the results of our harvest.

Galatians 6:9 — "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."

Sometimes we can get frustrated as Christians and wonder if what we do is even making a difference. We might get frustrated with our ministry and wonder if all the time and effort we put in is actually growing the Kingdom of God. This is not uncommon, but we must always remember that the reaping of the harvest is always in God's timing and not ours. In fact, we may never even witness the results on this side of heaven — it is instead our job to be obedient and keep planting those seeds.

One thing that is for certain is that God will reward those who are faithful and obedient to Him. That should be good enough for us.

💬 Discussion Questions

Have you ever seen or experienced the harvest of the good seed? If so, how did this impact you?
Is it common for us to become impatient when we are not seeing results from all our hard work?
What do you want your harvest to look like — empty and worthless, or pleasing to God?