“As Ye Sow …”

When Paul warned the Galatians, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Gal. 6:7), he meant that we reap in kind. That is, we do not plant thistles and expect to reap alfalfa. We do not sow discord and expect to reap harmony.

So we reap in kind—and almost always in greater quantity. That is, we sow a little thistle seed and get thistles—great big thistles, bushes and branches of them, for years and years unless we root them out. Sowing a little discord reaps discord—big, painful, malicious, warring discord.

Thus the warning of three prophets: Alma said that God is just. (See Alma 42:25.) Paul said we reap in kind exactly as we have sown. Hosea said we reap in quantity exceeding what we have sown: “For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. …” (Hosea 8:7.)

Jeffrey R. Holland
(Brigham Young University Ten-Stake Fireside address, June 2, 1974.)