Input Determines Output

Galatians 6:7-9, “6 Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches. 7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 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. 9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”

When you first start reading this passage, you see it’s this spooky scripture that I’ve heard all of my life that made me uneasy. It’s like it’s saying, “God is watching you. Jesus is going to get you.” At first, there is a truth to that. The Lord really dealt with me concerning this scripture and I want you to hear my heart today.

I can remember when I was a child, the first time I saw the movie Pinocchio. I had a big impact on me, because I became scared that every time I told a lie, my nose would grow. I got to thinking about that this week, that what would happen that every time you did something wrong, you saw an immediate response. We see what happened to Pinocchio and in my mind; I took it a little bit further. What would happen if every time you gossiped, your tongue got a little bit longer? Every time you listened to something you shouldn’t listen to, your ears got a little bit bigger. Every time you went somewhere you shouldn’t go, you feet got a little bit bigger. Some of us would look like Mr. Potato-head!

Thankfully, that’s not what happens. We’re talking about Input Determines Output today and when you sin, you don’t always see the immediate consequences of that sin. We get to thinking, because I don’t see immediate consequences to my sin, there are none. From there, we start living it out and walking it out. You cut corners on the job and you think, they’re going to find out what I did. You stay up half the night worrying about it and you go in the next day and find out that nobody found out about it and everything’s fine. You think, “I lied and did something dishonest and nothing happened.” You expect a cup of God’s wrath and nothing happens.

So, there’s a tendency to think that because you don’t see the consequences of sin that you’re getting by with it. You are lulled in your mind that because you don’t see any immediate consequences to sin, I’m getting by with it.

If that doesn’t happen to you, then you may wrestle with it like this: You’re a Christian and living right (personal relationship to God, raising kids right, loving your spouse, coming to church, giving, working in the church). You have this friend that claims to be a Christian and they don’t live it out at all (they do everything, barely go to church, don’t give anything, don’t work in the church, don’t invest in their kids) and you keep waiting on the hammer to come down. You almost wish something would happen so you could see God get them back. But nothing happens.

They don’t invest in their kids and their kids are better than yours. You take your kids to church and teach them the Word and your kids are crazy and their kids are as sweet as they can be. You give and sacrifice and they have the new boat and the new car.

In your mind, you’re thinking that there are no consequences to sin, because I can’t see it. If we were to tell the truth today, we all have been lulled into thinking that consequences to sin happen to everyone but us. We are the exception. We can get by with it. We’ve been doing it and nothing has happened. We can straddle the fence and as long as I can keep most of my life on the God side of the fence and retain some sinful pleasure and I’ve got it under control as long as I can keep it from getting out of hand, it will be alright. I see no consequences to my sin.

It is to that group of people, Paul writes and he says, “Do not be deceived.” He’s not talking to wild, ungodly people. He’s talking to Christians in a local church who in their minds have been lulled into thinking that they can keep part of their life in church and keep their sins under control and think that they’re ok. He goes on to say that whatever a person sows, that’s what they’ll reap.

We don’t like these kinds of messages and it’ll turn good in a minute, but sometimes you have to take the medicine. It is impossible to have input and it not determine your output. Whatever you’re feeding on the front side eventually will come to the surface down the road; EVERYTIME!

There is a tendency to think that we can pull it off and we’re different. Somehow it doesn’t apply to me if I can just keep it under control. That is the deception and that is why Paul said, “Don’t be deceived.”

We keep thinking of all the times we wait to see someone sow what they have reaped, but when it comes to our sin, the law of sowing and reaping happens to everybody else but us. We are the exception and it will not happen to us. God looks down and says to us when we say these things and says, “Just wait.”

There’s 2 laws to the law of sowing and reaping:

1. It’s all inclusive. Everything you sow into your life, it’s going to surface down the road. Every relationship, every kind of music, everything, and it’s in proportion. On other words, there’s no way you can come to church for one hour a week and get a little bit of God, go back out all week long and take in the wrong things and somehow think that you’re going to walk in the Spirit. Everything that you take in is going to show up down the road.

2. It functions regardless of our intentions. It’s simply connected to what you’re sowing. Your input is going to determine what your output is. It does not matter what your intentions are. I have people that sit across my desk and tell me, “I never intended for my marriage to fail. I never intended to fall into adultery. I never intended to get addicted to alcohol. I never intended for my finances to get so crazy and my spending to get out of hand. I never intended to lose my children’s respect. I never intended to lose my integrity.

It’s not what you intend, but what you sow is what you’re going to reap. Paul says there are 2 directions that you can take: there is one who sows to the flesh and of the flesh reaps corruption. The Greek definition for corruption is erosion. What is the definition of sowing to the flesh? It’s when you feed that sinful pleasure. That thing that you know God is clearly against, but in your mind you have been lulled to accepting that it’s okay, you’ve got it under control, and everything’s alright. When you feed that thing. When you sow into that thing.

Erosion is a funny thing. You don’t see it immediately. You don’t see what it’s producing immediately. The Grand Canyon wasn’t formed in a day. It wasn’t formed in a month. It wasn’t formed in a year. It took a long time. That’s what sin does. It’s an erosion of your integrity. An erosion of your anointing. An erosion of the touch of God. An erosion of your worship and suddenly, when you come to church you’re not thrilled about worship anymore, because there’s been an erosion of sowing to the flesh. An erosion of your family. An erosion of your marriage. Sooner of later, it will come to surface. What are you holding to that displease God? It’s so suttle, that you don’t even see it.

Satan is the 2nd most patient being in the universe. He knows if he can sit back and silently let you play with that pleasurable sin while you try to hold on to God and you don’t see the erosion, he’ll let you do it for 5, 10, 15 years. That’s how sin does. That’s how sin erodes and destroys.

Paul then flips this message into a positive thing. He turns the corner and says, “If you’ll sow to the Spirit, you will of the Sprit reap eternal life.” What is sowing to the Spirit? Sowing to the Spirit means that you listen to the inner promptings of the Holy Spirit. You listen to the Word of God. When the Spirit is speaking through a message like this, you don’t shut it off. You say, “Thank you God for loving me enough to deal with my issues and my deception.”

Just like the principle of not seeing immediate consequences of sin, you don’t always see immediate consequences of sowing to the Spirit. It works just like the negative. How do you get to a place of eternal life, of abundant life, a place of where life is worth living? If you want to get to the good life, you’ve got to sow to the Spirit. Remember, what you load up on in the front surfaces down the road.

When you sow to the Spirit, there is an erosion of the enemy that is taking place. There is an erosion of the stronghold that Satan had on your family. How do you get out of your lust problem, your addiction, your stronghold, you bad temper, you gossiping tongue? You get out the same way you got in. You sowed all that time to the flesh; now turn around and sow to the Spirit. If you sow to the Spirit, that yoke won’t hold you, that prison won’t keep you, that bondage won’t hold you. You just get stronger.

It’s not like it’s one lightning bolt service. You’re just getting stronger because you’re sowing to the Spirit and it just keeps surfacing. It didn’t happen overnight. You keep sowing to the Spirit and the good life will surface.

Galatians 6:9, “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” I love this verse. One translation I found said, “Don’t get tired of being good.” God knew His people would hit times and seasons of getting tired of being good.

The same lie the enemy tells you about being bad is the same lie he’ll tell you about being good. “There are no consequences to being good. What good does it do to honor God? Nobody respects your family. Nobody respects your children. Nobody respects your standards. Nobody cares about your morality. What good does it do? There are no consequences to sowing to the Spirit.

Remember, “You will reap in due time if you will not give up.” God “Withholds no good thing from them that walk uprightly.” Which means, if God withheld it, it wasn’t good for you. If God withheld it, it means that He has something better. Better relationships. Better life. Better joy. Better friendships. Better everything.