But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. —2 Corinthians 9:6
The secret to abundance is no secret; it’s a law. It’s the law of sowing and reaping. God put the ability to increase in our hands. The more you sow the more you reap.
The entire chapter of 2 Corinthians 9 is devoted to teaching on giving, specifically, giving finances. Paul likens giving finances to sowing seed. It’s a simple but powerful principle: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
If you have a garden in your backyard and you sow five rows of green beans, you’ll get a harvest of five rows of green beans. You decide how many rows you plant, but whatever you plant is going to be multiplied. If you plant one row, you get a harvest on one row. If you plant ten rows, you get a harvest on ten rows. No condemnation or pressure and no politics involved,
God will multiply what you plant. It works with green beans, and it works with money.
The following laws govern sowing and reaping:
- You always reap what you sow.
- You always reap after you sow.
- You always reap more than you sow.
What this means to us is that if we are not happy with the size of our harvest, we should plant more seeds! A bountiful harvest comes from bountiful sowing.
We no longer live in an agricultural society as they did in the days of the apostle Paul, but we all have some understanding of the way seeds produce a harvest for the farmer who plants them. When a farmer sows a field with seeds, the emphasis is on the harvest. He knows sowing is not a waste of time or money, even though it’s quite expensive to plant 100 acres of seeds. He knows the harvest will produce much more than what was initially sown in the ground. In other words, sowing is not an expense; it’s an investment.
If you don’t have an understanding of sowing and reaping when it comes to money, giving can become a burden or a duty. You can even feel as if you’re being robbed when you give an offering to a church or ministry. That’s not the way it’s supposed to be. Sowing ought to be exciting. We should give with expectancy.
Paul describes scriptural giving in the next verse: So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7). You should be happy about giving. If you’re not, read 2 Corinthians 9 until you can give cheerfully!
Natural farmers are so passionate about sowing that they are constantly looking for more land. They will even pay top dollar to rent land they don’t own just so they can sow more seeds. They don’t consider it a loss of time or money to sow seeds in a field. They see it as an opportunity. They see it as the beginning of a very rewarding process. Sowing good seeds in good soil is what makes the world go around!
When it comes to natural seeds, multiplication is the result of natural laws, but when it comes to money, it’s a supernatural law that to some makes no sense. Natural thinking says, “How can giving money away cause me to get more?” “Doesn’t money add up when you save it?” It may add up when you save it, but it multiplies when you give it!
Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness… (2 Cor. 9:10). I’d rather have multiplication than addition any day.
How can this happen? God does it. The same God who causes natural seed to produce a harvest for the farmer, causes money to be multiplied back to the giver. It’s a law that works for anyone who chooses to use it.
This same law is explained in Proverbs: There is one who scatters, yet increases more; And there is one who withholds more than is right, But it leads to poverty (Prov. 11:24).
It is possible to hold on too tightly to what you have and go backward, but when you take what you have and give some of it away, it leads to increase. “You always reap more than you sow” is a supernatural law.
Paul was not saying we should give everything away and never have anything. That’s not scriptural. 2 Corinthians 9:10 says, “He supplies seed to the sower and bread for food.” We have seed and bread; we should sow our seed and eat our bread.
God’s plan for us is that we would have abundance—enough to provide for us and our families and an abundance to give to others. The joy of giving should be part of our lives as Christians.
God wants to bless us so we can be a blessing!
I would love for you to consider sowing a seed here or being a partner with this ministry. Your gifts will help me continue to take the Good News to the world. Just scan the QR code below or go to the Donate page on my website: Donate – Greg Fritz Ministries.
I truly believe in the principles of sowing and reaping and have practiced giving faithfully for many years. I’m doing my best to ensure that Greg Fritz Ministries is good ground in which to sow.
May God continue to supply and multiply the seeds you’ve sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness!