Welcome to Day 163 of the “Manna for the Mind” devotional! This series is about finding nourishment in the Word of God to get us through the day. In each devotional, I take a variety of scripture passages (typically 1-3 verses each) and build our understanding of what they teach via their context and connecting scripture. My goal is to help you understand how to be the type of human God created you to be. Today’s passage is Galatians 6:7-8

Galatians 6:7-8

NASB	NLT	VOICE
7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a person sows, this he will also reap.	7 Don’t be misled – you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.	7 Make no mistake: God can’t be mocked. What you give is what you get. What you sow, you harvest.
8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit	8 Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.	8 Those who sow seeds into their flesh will only harvest destruction from their sinful nature. But those who sow seeds into the Spirit shall harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.

You will always harvest what you plant. It obviously makes sense that if you plant a tomato seed, you’d get a tomato. If you planted corn, you’d expect corn in return. If you plant a seed of happiness, you expect a happy response in return. If you plant a seed of anger, you expect an angry respond. If we want to see more happiness in the world, we must plant seeds of happiness around us in our community. It could be a kind word, a kind gesture, or a self-sacrificing act. The goal is to plant the seed of God for Christians, but this applies to those who aren’t a Christian. The goal is to plant the seeds of love, compassion, and care. The more we plant and grow those seeds, the less room the seeds of evil, chaos, and harm have the chance to grow. Granted, the good seeds can be planted in the wrong place or with the wrong intention, just as the wrong seed can be planted unintentionally is good soil.

The things we plant, using the seeds of our desires, will result in growing sorrow, anxiety, panic, and evil. The things we plant, using the seeds of God’s desires, will grow joy and everlasting life.

Romans 8:13

NASB	NLT	VOICE
13 for if you are living in accord with the flesh, you are going to die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.	13 For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.	13 For if your life is just about satisfying the impulses of your sinful nature, then prepare to die. But if you have invited the Spirit to destroy these selfish desires, you will experience life.

What does it mean to put to death the deeds of your sinful nature? It’s stopping the lifestyle choices you made that pulled you away from God. You know what those choices are. It’s those things that make you question your own morals. It’s those things that trigger guilt and shame within you. It’s those things that make you question things. You will hear the still, small voice from God through the Holy Spirit that will allow you to pause and reflect. When we do that, we find the things that were separating us from God. We find ourselves repenting of those things, recognizing our wrongs and asking God for his forgiveness.

Thankfully, we serve a forgiving God. God forgives and forgets. God doesn’t hold those things over our had, but the evil one does. Satan wants us to remember our past wrongs and believe that we are worthless, pathetic, sad, and not able to receive God’s ultimate forgiveness. The better news out of all this is that God was victorious over evil, through the sacrifice of his son Jesus, who defeated death, hell, and the grave. God’s victory is for us, in us, and through us. Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice. We make the daily sacrifice through him. Sometimes we must do things we may not like or make us uncomfortable in order to defeat the evil desires of our world. It’s heavy wording, because those things that are considered evil to God may feel harmless to us. We don’t run things though. God does, and we have a responsibility to follow what he commands.

Next slice of Manna: Manna for the Mind #164