Sow Generously to Reap Generosity
By Rick Warren
“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:6-7 NIV).
If a farmer goes out with a trailer load of beans, and he plants them in a barren field, what fruit does he expect to bear? Watermelon? Cucumbers? No. He’s going to get beans. He doesn’t doubt it. He doesn’t question it. Because whatever you plant is what you’re going to get back.
This is the law of reproduction, and it applies to every single area of your life — especially in your finances.
The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 9:6-7, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (NIV).
This can work either positively or negatively in your life. If you’re planting seeds of kindness, you know what? People are going to be kind to you. If you forgive others, they are going to be forgiving of you. If you’re generous, people are going to be generous with you.
But if you are angry all the time, people are going to respond in anger. If you cheat other people, people are going to cheat you. If you gossip about other people, guess what? People are going to gossip about you.
The law of reproduction says you reap what you sow, but the principle of multiplication says you will also always reap more than you sow.
When you put one kernel of corn in the ground, you don’t get one kernel of corn back. You get a cornstalk with multiple ears on it and hundreds of kernels on each of those ears. This is the exponential power that God has established the universe to handle. You always get more out of it than you put into it.
It’s why I never, ever attack my attackers. Why? I don’t want to get caught in the chain. No matter what anybody says to me, I don’t want to say anything bad back to them because if I do, I’m going to reap more than I sowed. What I choose to do is the exact opposite. I want to bless them. I want to pray for them. Why? Because that’s what I want to receive, and I always reap more than I sow.
Proverbs 11:24 says, “The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller” (The Message).
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Talk It Over
How have you seen the principle of multiplication active in your life?
What do you expect from your investments? How are you sowing so that you can receive what you expect to reap?
How do you want God to make your world larger (Proverbs 11:24)? What do you need to change about your finances so that he can increase your influence and giving?
For more Daily Hope with Rick Warren, please visit pastorrick.com!
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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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