To sow in the Spirit is to take actions in your personal life that grows you spiritually. It is a daily consistent choice to do things that cause your mind to be focused on God and not on the things of the world.
The apostle Paul just got done explaining in chapter 5, that we are to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh (Galatians 5:16), and that if we do this we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh but we will bear the fruit of the Spirit in our lives (Galatians 5:22-23).
In the natural, if we want fruit, like an apple, do we not need to first sow an apple tree seed before we can access this fruit? Of course! No one would disagree with that.
Well, Paul is making the same point here. If we want to bear the fruit of the Spirit we have to walk in the Spirit. We need to sow to the Spirit. Bearing fruit in the natural is the same way in the spiritual.
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” (Romans 8:5-6)
So if we want to sow to the Spirit then we need to do things that keep our minds focused on the things of the Spirit. [Related article: What does it mean to Walk/Live in the Spirit? (Explained)].
Every time we have a thought that goes toward the flesh, we just sowed to the flesh. In the same way, every time we have a thought go toward the Spirit, we just sowed to the Spirit and we will reap accordingly in due time.
Another thing to keep in mind is that sowing to the Spirit also refers to giving finances to ministers and to those in need.
The exhortation to sow to the Spirit is in the context of Paul saying, “Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches.”(Galatians 6:6)
I know that it is subtle but the “share in all good things” is referring to meeting their physical needs.
Paul used similar language in multiple places throughout scripture.
“Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer is worthy of his wages.” (1 Timothy 5:17-18)
“But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:6-7)
In Galatians 6:6-8, Paul was applying the same principle of sowing and reaping to our spiritual growth as well as our financial growth when we give.
How to sow to the Spirit
As mentioned in the section above, sowing to the Spirit is to do things that cause us to set our minds on the things of the Spirit. So what actions can we take to accomplish this? [Realted article: How to Walk/Live in the Spirit (Complete Guide)].
Read the word of God
Personally, I believe that reading the word of God is the best way that anyone can sow to the Spirit. The Bible is the literal word of God. It is THE spiritual book. Every truth in the Bible either applies to the spirit, the physical, or both.
Jesus said, “the words I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life” (John 6:63).
The apostle Paul said that we should take “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17).
The word of God and the Spirit of God are One and they agree with one another at all times. So, if we want to reap the things of the Spirit and bear fruit for our King then we cannot neglect the word of God. It should be our highest priority.
Spend time in prayer & worship
Spending time in communion with God and making it a priority to worship Him is of course sowing to the Spirit. When we do this we are drawing nearer to God and growing in our relationship with Him. And the Bible promises that as we do this the Holy Spirit comes to transform us (2 Corinthians 3:18).
Walk in love
Love is not only the fruit of the Spirit, but it can also be the way that we chose to sow. Right before Paul said, “I say then: Walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16) he exhorted us to walk in love.
“For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Galatians 5:14)
So when we are abiding in love, we will abide in God, for God is love (1 John 4:16).
Guard what you see, hear, and think on
We can spend hours with God every day, but if we are spending an equal to a greater amount of time watching, listening, and partaking in the junk that the world offers that means we are sowing more to the flesh than we are the Spirit. In other words, we will be reaping the lusts of the flesh more than the fruit of the Spirit.
Give
As mentioned previously, the context of sowing to the Spirit was immediately after Paul mentioned that we share with those who teach the word. This means that sowing to the Spirit also has a lot to do with giving to ministers and to those in need.
So when we give with a cheerful and loving heart, we place God over our finances, and not only do we walk in love to the person that we gave to but we also just revealed to God that we place a higher value on investing in His Kingdom than our pocketbook.
Benefits of sowing to the Spirit
- We will bear the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)
- We will have a long life and see good days (1 Peter 3:10).
- We will be transformed into the Image of God (2 Corinthians 3:18& Romans 12:1-2).
- Every need of ours will be supplied (Phillipian 4:19)
- Our prayers will be answered (John 15:7)
In our lives, we can work hard to honor God. We can do all the latest craze of spiritual disciplines rigorously. We can keep a list of rules to try to keep us from even getting close to breaking the will of God. We can adhere to what some call the laws of God. But, we cannot earn, purchase, or ensure our harvest of eternal life by our own efforts. Working to be approved by God, working to be seen as more righteous than others, and working to live up to some human standard of righteousness is going to fail. Working to earn our salvation means we have cut ourselves off from Christ and fallen from grace (Galatians 5:4).
In Galatians, Paul made clear that we are saved by our faith in what Jesus did to save us, not by keeping any set of rules. We live righteous lives because of what God has given us in Christ, not to be worthy of it or to gain it. Paul emphasized that each of us has the power to produce the kind of life that pleases God. That power is the Holy Spirit at work within us. The Holy Spirit is for us what good water and weather are for the farmer. So, how do we "sow to the Spirit"? How do we have the assurance the Spirit is at work in our lives?
All who have trusted in Jesus for salvation and submitted to baptism, sharing with Jesus in his saving death, burial, and resurrection have received the Holy Spirit (Galatians 3:26-4:7; Acts 2:36-41). The Holy Spirit came and cleansed us, gave us new birth into God's family, and came to live in us (John 3:3-7; Titus 3:3-7; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11). We don't have to worry about having the Holy Spirit. Instead, we need to learn to rely on the power and presence of the Holy Spirit that Jesus has promised to us. So, let's make tapping into the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, something we can pursue as part of our life in Christ!
I want to share with you three areas of our discipleship that will enable you to know about, depend upon, and tap into the power and presence of the Holy Spirit: pursuit, praise, and prayer. My prayer is that as you work through each of these three concepts, you will recognize that each is doable and that God's promises that the Holy Spirit will be at work in your life is real and you can experience the presence of God's Spirit!
Pursuit:
We pursue Jesus longing to become more like him and for the Spirit to form Jesus in us (Galatians 4:19; Colossians 1:28-29). We do this because every disciple wants to be like his teacher, and our great teacher is Jesus (Luke 6:40). As we pursue Jesus, the Holy Spirit is at work transforming to become like him with ever-increasing glory (2 Corinthians 3:17-18). We begin to display, by the power of the Spirit, the character and compassion of Jesus (Galatians 5:22-23). God, who began his work in us when the Holy Spirit came to us and saved us, will continue this work until the time we go home to Jesus (Romans 8:28-29; Philippians 1:6, 2:13).
How do we tap
into the power
and presence of
the Holy Spirit?
Praise:
We turn our hearts to God in song with other believers (Ephesians 5:18-19. We give thanks for what God has done for us (Ephesians 5:20). We submit in our relationships to serve others to honor Christ as Lord (Ephesians 5:21). As we do these things, Paul promises that we are filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18).[NOTE]
Prayer:
We pray, asking for Jesus to keep filling us with the Spirit (Luke 11:13; cf. Romans 5:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:8). We pray "in the Spirit" (Ephesians 6:18; Jude 20) with the help of the Spirit, even when we don't have words to speak, and the Spirit speaks the needs of our heart to God in language too deep for words (Romans 8:26-27). We pray for each other to be filled and empowered by the Spirit, so the Spirit is at work in others' lives (Ephesians 1:17-20, 3:14-21).
Will we always feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives? Probably not, but we can trust God's promises that the Spirit is at work in us. These three areas enable us to tap into the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. They are fundamental practices of our discipleship. They involve our pursuitof Jesus, our praise offered to God for what he has done for us in Jesus, and, our prayer with and for each other to have the Spirit active in our lives as followers of Jesus. We need to make these activities intentional. We begin to do them expecting the Spirit to be present and to fill us with God's grace and power!
[NOTE] Ephesians 5:15-21 is grammatically one block of teaching emphasizing being filled with the Spirit (5:18). Paul then gives five accompanying commands (imperatival participles) that go with being filled with the Spirit:
- Speak to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs — vs. 19.
- Sing — vs. 19.
- Make music from our hearts to the Lord — vs. 19.
- Give thanks always to God for everything — vs. 19.
- We submit to one another in reverence to Christ — vs. 21.
God wants to transform us into the likeness of his Son for service in this world! We will be equipped to make a difference for all eternity when we memorize, ponder, and meditate on his Word. As we spread our wings of faith, the wind of the Spirit lifts our soul above the corrupting influences of the world, cleansing our heart and mind, so we can focus on the kingdom values God wants to instill in the depths of our soul. Reciting our verses and praying them from within our soul, assures that we are praying according to the will of God. And God promises that he hears us and will answer in his way and time. “And this is the boldness we have in God’s presence: that if we ask God for anything that agrees with what he wants, he hears us. If we know he hears us every time we ask him, we know we have what we ask from him” (1 John 5:14–15, NCV).
We are counseled in the New Testament to “Let the message of Christ dwell among [us] richly as [we] teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in [our] hearts” (Colossians 3:16). When we trust in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are sealed by the Spirit of God, and we are justified and made acceptable to Almighty God. We are secure in him and are in a position to do the works he has prepared for us to do. When our hearts are filled with his Word, it will help expel the things that would lead us astray, such as wrong attitudes, desires to sin, and the lures of the world. And it will help us to focus on all that he has for us.
We must spend time
with God’s Word.
I find my own heart is stirred when I recite and pray my Spiritual M & M verses to the King. When we do this we know we are praying in accordance with the will of God. After all, it is his Word we are sowing back to him. And I have found that God responds in a powerful way when I do this.
In Jeremiah we read, “When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, Lord God Almighty” (Jeremiah 15:16). Here, we see the mechanics for experiencing God in our lives. When the words of God came to him, Jeremiah ate them. In other words, he internalized them by memorizing and meditating on them (Spiritual M & Ms!). These words became his heart’s delight! That is why I like to say, “Read it, eat it, live it … and God will visit to perform his Word toward you.”
In the book of Psalms we read, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). As we delight in the Lord and his Word, his desires will become our desires. Our prayer life will come into harmony with his will. We will see more answered prayer because we are praying in conformance to his desires: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him” (1 John 5:14–15).
The way we think, act, and talk all reflect what is in our hearts. What we nurture in our hearts will govern our behavior. We need to stay focused on God’s Word in order to be filled with Christ and accomplish his purposes. When we sow God’s Word, we will find that our converterlating takes on new direction, meaning, and impact!
In what ways do you see the meditation of God’s Word coming out in your words and actions?
You reap what you sow" is a well-known idiom, but this principle is also Biblical.
God said to Moses, “I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.” Deuteronomy 30:19.
Life is full of choices. It is written in Proverbs to “ponder the path of your feet, and … remove your foot from evil.” Proverbs 4:26-27. We need to think about our choices and what the consequences of our choices are. They can lead to corruption, or to eternal life.
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to the flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.“ Galatians 6:7-8.
You choose in the time of temptation
Everything in life goes exactly according to what is written in God’s Word. There are no exceptions. This is a law of life that affects everyone, whether a believer or a non-believer. You will reap what you sow. All corruption that is in the world comes from lusts. (2 Peter 1:4) James asks, “Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?” James 4:1.
All sin begins in the thought life. When a temptation comes up as a thought, if I agree with it, it gives birth to sin: and when sin is full grown (practiced) it brings forth death. (James 1:14-15) This death is reaping the wages of sin; a spiritual death, where one’s conscience becomes hardened and one cannot discern between good and evil. One lives in sin.
Read more about how to resist temptation here.
It’s written about the passing pleasures of sin which Moses rejected. What people don’t reckon with is that after the pleasure of sin passes the reaping of corruption will follow. It’s reaped in marital difficulties and divorce. It’s reaped with financial difficulties. It’s reaped in the thought life with images of past sinful behavior. One can be tormented with thoughts of regret, anxiety, suspicion, unthankfulness, bitterness, discontent and all sorts of bad memories. But Jesus can set us free from all of this and make us free indeed! (John 8:34-36)
God’s Word is the solution
We can overcome even while we have to reap, by taking up a battle in the thought life, taking thoughts captive and bringing them into the obedience of Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5) These thoughts are to be met with a firm and unwavering “no” and then bringing our thoughts, as quickly as possible to God’s Word and in faith obeying the Word. Paul writes in connection with anxiety to meditate on whatever is noble, pure, lovely, of good report, virtue and anything praiseworthy. (Philippians 4:8) Over time one will come to rest from the reaping in the thought life.
It’s written about being hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. (Hebrews 3:13) Sin can be deceptive and Satan can make it appear as something very attractive by appealing to our reasoning. Just look around and you’ll see the fruit of such deception. You will see the wages of sin. Politicians, entertainers, sports stars, and just people in your daily sphere get exposed and reap corruption. They get abased because of pride.
Choose life!
Why not choose life and avoid all this unnecessary suffering and misery? Sow to the Spirit and instead reap eternal life! Paul writes in Romans that to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (Romans 8:6) If we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16-17) There is a battle in the thought life. The Spirit lusts against the flesh and the flesh against the Spirit. They are contrary to one another. But through the power of an eternal Spirit we can overcome those lusts of the flesh! Paul writes that if we give in to the works of the flesh we will not inherit the kingdom of God. That kingdom consists of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, which are the fruits of an overcoming life.
Paul also lists the fruits of the Spirit. “… love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control …” Galatians 5:22-23. And he exhorted Timothy to flee the things of the world and fight the fight of faith and lay hold on eternal life. (1 Timothy 6:11-12) Jesus also fought this fight. That battle resulted in perfection as a result of learning obedience in the sufferings. (Hebrews 5:8) All the fullness of God came to dwell in His spirit. He opened that way for us to follow Him on. It’s a fight worth fighting. So, in your daily situations choose life! You won’t regret it.
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