"Since the [one] sowing unto the flesh of himself out of the flesh he will reap corruption, but the [one] sowing unto the spirit out of the spirit will reap life eternal."
-Make no mistake - you WILL reap what you sow. Sooner or later, you can expect a harvest of outcomes in your life based on where you planted seeds. There are only two choices, just two fields in which to sow - that’s it. You can sow to your flesh, or you can sow to the Spirit. And there are only two outcomes. If you are sowing to your flesh, you will most assuredly reap corruption. If you are sowing to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life. Those are the only two options. And generally speaking, you will know them by their fruits - that’s what Jesus said (Matthew 7.20).
-One kind of life is a life of flesh, of self, of looking out for number one, of prioritizing the threefold-self - Me-Myself-and-I, with a capital MMI. I want what I want, when I want it. We are born this way, the instinctive cry of every toddler being, ‘mine!’ This is the life which is loathe to share, to give generously to spiritual leaders or really to anyone else, loathe to say no to the wants of the flesh, giving in and living luxuriously and indulgently in this life - King (or Queen) Me - I am destined for the one place where I can continue my reign on the throne of my life, and that is the one place in the universe where God is not present. The outer darkness, that place of eternal corruption. There may be two fields for sowing, but there is only one throne, and God is not mocked. When I prioritize my flesh, when I diminish His dominion over me and banish His rule in my life, I myself will be ultimately banished. We’re talking about a lifetime of earning this corruption, this soul-decay which gradually and increasingly sets in, eventually coating my soul with a deathly pallor of selfishness. The flesh is mortal, dying - it is not life-giving but rather life-sapping. You can see it in the lives of those who have lived a full life but a life full of self. They are generally miserable creatures, apt to complain and grumble when things aren’t just the way they want, exuding negativity out of every pore of their soul. God is not mocked.
-Of course, on the flip side, in the other field we find eternal life, life in the Spirit and by the Spirit. And the Spirit gives life (2Corinthians 3.6, Johin 6.63, cf Romans 8.6, Job 33.4) - it is the Spirit, the very breath of God Who imparts life to begin with (cf Genesis 2.7, 7.22)! We’re not talking about perfection (at least not in this life). These are not perfect people. But these are ones who are finding real life, life as it was always meant to be lived! These are the souls who have said, life is not about me - it’s about the Lord. It is not about what I want, but rather what He wants. These are the ones who (are able to) say no to their flesh. They are learning and choosing to live more in generosity than luxury, more in temperance than in indulgence. Surely at our best we are all recovering flesh-aholics (Flesh-aholics Onymous - we're not keeping this to ourselves!), ones who have admitted our problem and our powerlessness, have turned to this One True Higher Power for strength and who thru Christ and by this Spirit are indeed learning to live a new life with a new code of behavior. A new life which is the true path to life eternal! Praise Him!
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