“Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. ” Galatians 6:8 NIV
What does it mean to reap what you sow? The best example I can think of is a plant. The kind of plant you will get or reap, whether it is a vegetable, fruit, flower, tree or herb is going to be determined by what seed you plant or sow. You cannot get wheat if you plant a willow tree seed and you cannot get hydrangeas if you plant pea seeds.
This is the law of cause and effect, certain things happen as a result of what we do. The same explanation can be given when talking about our spiritual life. Paul is explaining this to the Christians in Galatia because some of them had begun to believe some false leaders and their teachings. For example, false leaders were able to convince some of the followers of Christ that following Jesus Christ was not going to save them but that they had to also follow the law of Moses and still perform certain acts so God would approve of them.
Since we are flawed beings and were born into sin, it is helpful for us to understand that when it comes to our bodies, emotions and thoughts, our sinful nature is going to try and control us in every situation. Paul was explaining to the Church in Galatia that when you live your life in manner that is pleasing to God, then you will have the result of eternal life. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and then live our life building and nurturing that relationship there are several affects that occur because of those actions.
The first affect is that by claiming Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are saved from eternal damnation. This is a huge one for most people who do not want to live in torment for eternity. The second affect is that you are drawn to Jesus, you want to seek Him, interact with Him, learn about Him, think about Him. The third affect is that because we learn about Him, we then want to build that relationship with Jesus and have Him in our daily lives. All of those actions are pleasing to the Spirit, which the verse tells us results in eternal life.
This is what Paul was trying to tell the Christians in Galatia. We also can benefit from having this information. When we do things that are only pleasing to our bodies or our flesh, then we are only thinking about ourselves and not God. That is when we can fall into our old behaviors of pleasing our flesh and we move away from the new behaviors we have developed that are pleasing to the Spirit.
Which do you want to please, your flesh or God?