Hello, mi neighbour! | The principles of sowing and reaping

Here are four principles of sowing and reaping that we should remember for life!

You reap WHAT you sow.

You reap WHERE you sow.

You reap MORE THAN you sow.

You reap AFTER you sow.

Farmers understand this one very well: you receive in return exactly what you place in the ground, everything being equal. If you plant corn, it is foolhardy to expect gungo or tomatoes in return. Sounds odd but many people erroneously believe that they can sow money and expect to reap love in return. Well, ‘Mr/Mrs Lover’, if you sow money into people’s lives with an expectation to receive love in return, you may reap favours and/or money down the road but certainly not the love you would’ve expected. If you think that what you are receiving in return is love, think again! It’s fake, and will soon fizzle out.

You see, in the same way that we reap what we sow in a field, we also reap what we sow we in our lives. In order to reap a good relationship with your family, you must sow seeds called good deeds in your relationship.

People who sow grace and extend mercy to others receive a harvest of grace and mercy especially in a time of need! “… whoever refreshes others will be refreshed”.

People who give generously are entrusted with more resources! “Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over ...” Also, “one person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly but comes to poverty.”

These verses highlight this reality:

1. Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of his fury will fail.

2. They will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. So, watch what you sow!

REAP WHERE YOU SOW

We also reap where you sow. To follow the farmers’ principle of sowing and reaping, you know that you cannot sow it in the field and reap it in the kitchen. If you want it in the kitchen, you must go and reap it from the field, and bring it into the kitchen. Don’t listen to the voice of laziness. Sow here, reap here; sow there, reap there.

Those who want their marriage and family life to grow and flourish must put some energy and ‘love seeds’ into it. Invest the time and patience it requires and watch the harvest of peace, joy and happiness overtake. You cannot have a good family life while having an eye on your neighbour’s wife. Moses told the children of Israel that “Whatever you put your hand to prospers”.

Say after me:

If I invest in my relationships, they’ll prosper.

If I invest in learning a new skill, it will prosper.

If I invest in complaining and bitterness, it prospers

If I focus on the loss instead of celebrating the gain, my discontent will soar.

Since we are being reminded/learning here that anything that we put our hands to prospers, we must ensure that whatever we put our hand to are things that we actually want to prosper! “Push the plow in the direction which aligns with your dreams.”

REAPING MORE THAN YOU SOW

There is also the principle of reaping more than you sow! The seed is the most important aspect of the entire sowing and reaping process. By their very nature, seeds multiply exponentially! Under normal circumstances (not genitically modified), a mango seed represents an entire tree, laden with mangoes, each of which has the potential to fill the earth with an infinite number of mango trees and mangoes. In the same way, each seed you plant (be it finance, an act of kindness, prayer, time, etc.) carries exponential output.

Continuing with the process of reaping and sowing, we reap after we sow. There’s a Chinese proverb that goes: When is the best time to plant a tree? The answer: 50 years ago. In other words, to harvest something related to your dream 10 months down the road, we’ve got to plant something NOW! Let me squeeze this one in here suh: if you are planning to get married five years down the road, and you would like it to survive, start getting your act together now. Rid yourself of those bad habits ... and, rembember, having sown, we do not forget to continue tending the field. No farmer invests time and effort sowing precious seeds, only to simply walk away, returing years later, expecting a harvest. It’s not a betting game.

Now, as we go sowing and would like to do so successfully, we must do so purposefully. We must cultivate the mindset of a winner and live like one. By now you know that winners:

* Establish clear, specific, and achievable goals that align with their values and priorities.

* Focus on positive thoughts, emotions, and do a lot of self-talk.

* Start their day with a consistent routine that sets them up for success, such as prayer, exercise, meditation and journalling.

* Take care of their physical, emotional, and mental well-being by getting enough sleep, eating a healthy diet, and engaging in activities that bring them joy and relaxation.

* Avoid distractions, stay organised, and maintain a high level of discipline in your daily activities.

* Step out of their comfort zone and take calculated risks to achieve their goals.

* View failures as opportunities for growth and learning, and use them to improve and adjust their approach to life.

WINNERS AND LOSERS

There are two sets of people in the world: winners and losers.

If you:

* Aim low and expect to fail

* Focus on negative thoughts and emotions

* Put off important tasks and decisions, for TV, video games, etc.

* Surround yourself with negative influences,

are you a winner or a LOSER?

Since:

We reap WHAT we sow

We reap WHERE we sow

We reap MORE THAN we sow

We reap AFTER we sow,

We must ensure that we sow that which we would like to reap.

Let me break here to allow for digestion.

Be strenghtened!

ASSIST A NEIGHBOUR

Can you assist a needy neighbour with a stove, bed, refrigerator, sewing machine, medication, building materials etc.?

To help, please call Silton Townsend @ 876 649-9636 or 876 884-3866. Email: helloneighbour@yahoo.com. Visit hellomineighbourja.blogspot.com. Townsend exclusively manages the collections and distributions mentioned in this column and is neither an employee nor agent of The Gleaner.