but let us not lose heart in doing good; for in due time, if we do not faint, we shall reap.
Paul has just laid down the law of sowing and reaping, and now turns it into an appeal to keep going. The pressure he addresses is not open sin but slow results — the quiet exhaustion of doing good and seeing nothing come of it.
One writer places this appeal inside God's government of His people in this life. There, what we sow decides what we gather:
The Apostle now adds a solemn warning. He pictures God's government in our path through this world as sowing and reaping. Let us not fool ourselves. We are Christians by the grace of God, but that does not mean we escape the results of our folly in this life. "God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap." On the one hand, if we act in the flesh, we shall suffer. God's mercy may lessen that suffering when we judge the failure. On the other hand, to act in the Spirit will carry its bright reward not only down here but in the life everlasting.
Weariness comes from impatience with God's timing. We check for growth long before anything could have grown:
But we must not weary in the right path, for God is faithful, and if we persevere, we shall reap in His own time. We often want to see the fruit of our labours at once, like someone who turns up the earth to see if the seed is springing. But if the work is real, it is God's work. We must wait until He finishes it. Then we shall see fruit ripened to match the perfection of His workmanship.
The verse uses two different Greek words, and one writer traces both. The first word, en-kakeo, lies behind "be weary." It means losing heart. It bites hardest when someone has taken advantage of your kindness:
"Let us not be weary in well doing" (an older translation), or, as J. N. Darby renders it, "Let us not lose heart in doing good." It is so easy to lose heart in doing good. That poor soul you helped the other day turned out to be a crook, not in need at all. So you vowed nobody would fool you so easily again. No, no; let us not be discouraged; let us not give in to evil. Next time you may turn away somebody really in need.
The second word pictures something different — not a decision to stop, but a gradual loss of tension:
Near the end of this verse older translations have the word "faint" (the ESV has "give up"). It is a completely different word from en-kakeo. The word used here is ek-luo, "I loose," or "I unloose" — like a bowstring being let go slack.
The promise is not that we will see returns soon, but that a fixed season is coming — and it arrives with Christ:
This should encourage the heart of the believer in the middle of all the trials of this present life. Often now we have to put a foot on the neck of something we love. Often we have to cut away what our hearts cling to. But the path will soon end in joy and glory, where the divine life in us can grow with nothing to spoil it. We must not let our hands drop, however much the heart urges it. Keep on with every good work until the Lord Jesus comes. The "due season" is not far off; then joy will crown the servant's work. We need to remind each other of this now. Serving Christ in these last days is often very discouraging, and the worker is likely to faint on the road or give up in despair. Take courage — the Lord is near.
The sowing image is not limited to preaching or obvious religious work. It stretches across everything a believer does, and it names where the reaping happens:
The principle of sowing is widened in verses 9 and 10 to include our whole conduct of life. Well-doing of whatever sort is sowing pure seed. May we never become weary in doing it! The season of final reaping is close at hand — the Judgment Seat of Christ (Rom. 14:10; 2 Cor. 5:10). There is no reason to faint or be discouraged, however, and we shall not faint if Christ is the Object before our souls. Opportunities for doing good are abundant if we keep our eyes open, and we are to exclude no one from our thoughtfulness and care.
- Sowing. Sow in the Spirit and the reward comes, here and in the life to come; God's government makes the harvest as certain as the seed.
- Waiting. Weariness comes from digging up the seed to inspect it, instead of leaving the work to ripen at God's pace.
- Two failures. One word warns against caving in and giving up; the other pictures a bowstring gone slack — strength quietly leaking away.
- One season. The reaping has a set time: it comes with Christ, and it is near.
- One reach. Well-doing covers the whole of life, excludes no one, and keeps going while Christ stays before the soul.
So then, as we have occasion, let us do good towards all, and specially towards those of the household of faith.
Paul ends his warning about sowing and reaping with a plain instruction: keep doing good, and do it now. It answers three questions. When do we act? Who is included? Who comes first?
The words "so then" tie this command back to the harvest law of the previous verses. One writer explains that picture, and what to do when we see little result:
He pictures God's government of our path through this world as sowing and reaping. Let us not fool ourselves. We are Christians by the grace of God, but that does not mean we escape the results of our own foolishness in this life... In the presence of opposition and conflict we may faint, seeing little result of "well doing" we may grow weary, but let us press on, waiting God's "due season."
Another writer widens the picture to cover everything we do:
Verses 9 and 10 widen the principle of sowing to cover our whole way of life. Well-doing of whatever sort is sowing pure seed... Chances to do good are everywhere if we keep our eyes open. We are to leave no one out of our thoughtfulness and care... This is not just enjoying people and giving them what they want. It is real, positive good done to them.
The Greek behind "opportunity" is the same word for "season" used in verse 9. That gives the sentence a deadline, and the word for "do good" carries the sense of effort:
The word for "labor" makes us think of the hard work that is needed. And if we are to do good towards all, it does require hard work... And it is only as we have time! "But this I say, brothers: the time is short!" (1 Cor. 7:29, older translation.) Soon our opportunities will be gone. Soon it will be too late. We will not have the opportunities in heaven to do good towards all as we have now down here.
"All" means all. One writer lists what else the New Testament tells us to do for all people:
We are to love all (1 Thess. 3:12), to pray for all (1 Tim. 2:1), to do good to all (Gal. 6:10), to love and to help our enemies (Rom. 12:19-21), and to be kind to the unthankful and the evil (Matt. 5:43-48). At the same time we are especially to do good to the household of faith. We are to love our brothers and sisters as Christ has loved us. That means we must be willing to lay down our lives for them. (1 John 3:16.)
Kindness also reaches people who never read the Bible:
The power of our testimony for the Lord depends more on our actions than on our words! The world may not study Scripture, but often it knows how to judge our behaviour. How many a soul has been broken down, not only by the pure gospel, clearly presented, but also by the mercy shown!
Why do believers get the first claim? Because of two different ties, and one outranks the other:
We are to be givers and doers of good to all men; while the household of faith has the first claim on us. By creation we are connected with all men. Redemption and its results place us in the household of faith. The first tie is natural, the second is spiritual, and the spiritual comes before the natural.
The phrase itself must not be shrunk to fit our own group:
"The faith" is a term which tells us of the faith in Christ Jesus, and the household of faith includes every believer. May we remember that we all belong to the same household. People may build walls. They form groups and societies that shut other believers out. But in God's eyes we all belong to the same household.
Believers and unbelievers can do the same kind act. What separates them is why they do it. And helping the world is not a partnership with it.
Surely, if there is a special duty to the household of faith, I am also bound to do good to all men. But in this there is no yoking together with those outside Christ, and no communion. The worldly man gives because he is generous, or feels for the need of the person, or is expected to give. The child of God does it because it is the will of God. The one acts on the ground of nature, the other in faith.
- Sow — this command grows out of the harvest law. Whatever you scatter, you gather. So keep scattering good, even when you see no crop.
- Season — "opportunity" is the same word as "due season"; the window is open now and closes at death, so the work is urgent.
- Labour — the verb means expended effort, not warm feeling; doing good to all is hard work.
- All — the circle takes in everyone: enemies, the unthankful, the evil. Mercy shown often reaches people that words never touch.
- Especially — creation links us to everyone; redemption links us to believers. The second tie comes first. And that household holds every believer, not only our own circle.