Galatians 6:8

Friday 3/9/12

Galatians 6:8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

Interpretation:
     The flesh will always reap corruption without fail. That’s why Paul says in Romans 7:18a, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells.” I’ve heard it said that the only thing worse than failing in the flesh is succeeding in the flesh. When you succeed in the flesh, you produce this beautiful looking fruit. You’re so proud of what you’ve done. But when you bite into it, you find that it’s corrupt. It looks good on the outside, but the inside is disgusting.

     That’s the way of the flesh. In the flesh you can do things that people will be impressed with. They might even tell you how spiritual you are or how blessed they were by your actions. But it’s not until you offer that fruit up to God that He bites into it and allows you to see the inside of the fruit. God’s not interested in appearances; He’s interested in the heart – He’s interested in our motives.

     Unfortunately, for me this happens a lot more than I’d like to admit. I try to do something good, but my flesh gets in there and corrupts the fruit. My motives become selfish and my focus turns inward on myself. So although I wish to produce the fruit from the Spirit, many times I find out that the fruit I’m producing is bad and corrupt because of my flesh. So with Paul I say “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7: 24-25a)

Application:

     I will pray to God that everything I do be seeds sown in the Spirit and not the flesh. I will ask Him to search my heart and motivation throughout the day and to open my eyes to the times I’m doing things in the flesh and not in the Spirit. I will then make sure to keep my eyes open today for good-looking but corrupt fruit in my life and repent of it.