PARENTHOOD
a divine stewardship

A MATTER OF SOWING

The exercise of parenting is an exercise of sowing. In everything that we do, we are sowing to the Spirit or sowing to the flesh. Whatever we do, positively or negatively will have an issue, a harvest. In Galatians 6:7-10, the Apostle Paul touched the matter of sowing in our daily living. Witness Lee, in addressing this portion of the Word in his Life-Study of Galatians, message 29, points out that we need to be careful not to sow to the flesh in all of the details of our living:

We should not continue to walk according to the flesh. We should not be in the flesh in expressing our attitudes. In speaking to their children, parents need to be in the Spirit and according to the Spirit. Otherwise, what they say will be a sowing unto the flesh. We should also be careful of the way we express our attitude. Even the expression of an attitude may be sowing according to the flesh. On the other hand, we may express our attitude by sowing unto the Spirit. We should also be cautious in expressing opinions. Do you have the assurance that the utterance of your opinion is according to the Spirit? If not, be careful, lest you sow unto the flesh. If we all sow unto the Spirit day by day, many problems will be eliminated. The troubles in the church life and in the family life will diminish. Most problems and troubles come from sowing unto the flesh.

Many times when we deal with our children, we are drawn out of our spirit into our flesh by the frustration of the moment. In that situation we sow to the flesh rather than sowing to the Spirit. Is it any wonder that we later reap a harvest of the flesh?

In Galatians 6:7-10 Paul covers the matter of how to sow. In verse 7 he warns, "Do not be led astray, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he shall also reap." The admonition not to be led astray was spoken in reference to the false teachings of the Judaizers. These teachings led the Galatians astray from the Spirit in their spirit to the law by their flesh.

The matter of sowing is quite mysterious. What is it that we sow, and for what purpose do we sow? Some may understand Paul's word about sowing to refer to what he has previously spoken about bearing the burdens of others and about sharing the necessities of life with those who have need.

According to this understanding, if one contributes to the daily need of a person serving the Lord in the Word, he is then sowing to the Spirit. I would agree that this is a proper application of Paul's word about sowing. However, our understanding of sowing should not be limited to this matter. As we shall seek to point out, sowing covers the totality of our Christian life.

Verse 8 says, "Because he who sows unto his own flesh, shall reap corruption of the flesh, but he who sows unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life."

Everything we do is some kind of sowing, either to the flesh or to the Spirit. Wherever we may be and whatever we are doing, we are sowing seeds. You sow at work and also at school. The elders sow while they are caring for the church, and those who minister the Word sow as they minister. Husbands and wives are constantly sowing in their married life, and parents are sowing in their family life. Everything parents say to their children and do with them is a seed sown into them. Day by day we all are sowing. The Christian life is a life of sowing. Furthermore, the place where we live and work is our farm. You are sowing even by the way you dress or style your hair. Virtually everything you do is an act of sowing. It is crucial for us to realize that the Christian walk must be a walk by the Spirit and a life of sowing to the Spirit.

Paul showed marvelous wisdom in his writing of 6:1-10, covering a number of crucial points. As we have seen, he speaks of things such as restoring a fallen one in a spirit of meekness and of fulfilling the law of Christ by giving something to meet the need of another. Then he tells us not to be led astray, since God is not mocked.

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