Galatians 6:9 – You Will Be Tempted To Become Weary of Doing Good
Have you ever started something enthusiastically, but soon got tired of it? As human beings that’s something we tend to do. And as we try to sow to the Spirit, it will be a real temptation. You’ll become weary of reading your Bible. Weary of sticking out as different in school or in work. Weary of the acts of service you do in church each week. Weary of giving sacrificially to God’s work. Weary of raising your children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. And the flesh is always there. It’s there as the easy option, the short term option, the less painful option. And the wearier we are, the readier we are to give in.
If we stand back and look at it objectively, it makes no sense to sow to the flesh. Serving God is such a great thing! He’s such a great, mighty, awesome, loving God! His yoke is easy and his burden is light! But the reason we become weary is in the second half of v9. It’s because when we sow to the Spirit, we don’t see any instant impact. The reaping doesn’t happen immediately. And that period between the sowing and the reaping is the dangerous one. Because that’s when we’ll be tempted to give up. After faithfully doing something for so long, we’ll look around and say: ‘nothing has changed, what’s the point?’
But here’s where you need to feel the encouragement of v9: in due season, we will reap. Coming to church, even when you don’t feel like it; teaching and disciplining your children; being a faithful witness in school; doing your work as if for God and not man – in due season, you will reap. That is absolutely certain. God says you will. ‘If – IF – you do not give up’.
Discouragement is one of Satan’s biggest weapons. It happens in the life of a church. Congregations go through seasons – seasons of growth and encouragement and conversions and new members, but also seasons of discouragement with people falling away; those whose Christian growth seems to have levelled off; others moving away for work or study; illnesses and personal tragedies. And at times like that we’ll need to encourage one another with this verse: ‘let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up’.
Questions
- When is it easy to get discouraged?
- What does God promise here?
Prayer Points
- Pray that we would not grow weary in doing good.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.