“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” (Galatians 6:7)
I am a diabetic. I really wish I wasn’t, because I like to eat, especially sweets. I have to continually discipline myself to stay out of trouble with my diabetes. If don’t watch what I eat, how much I eat, and regularly monitor my blood sugar–I will pay a price for it. So many things in life are like this. We need to stick to what is good for us, and avoid the things that cause us and others problems.
It is easy to give ourselves a pass when we live with chronic illnesses, to excuse our bad behavior, and blame our illnesses for everything. But how we behave, how we treat others, and the things we sow into our lives and the lives of others counts, as much if not more because we live with afflictions.
Reading the Word of God, praying, being grateful for the good people in our lives is an important way to live. What we do and how we live counts. I think God is patient with us, and understanding when it comes to the added burdens of living with afflictions.
He knows the demands placed on our lives because of illness, and I believe He gives us an extra measure of grace, but that does not mean we can afford to continually sow junk into our lives, neglect God, neglect His Word, drop our prayer life, and overlook the needs of those around us. We can become so insulated from the important things of life, our pain and suffering can so blind us to the needs of those around us, that we can end up reaping a bad crop. We can find ourselves with lives filled with weeds, instead of a fruitful Christian life.
It does no good to focus on our inabilities. Disabilities can limit our accomplishments in life, but even the most disabled person can show love and kindness to those around them, pray to God, read or listen to God’s word, be faithful in marriage, forgiving of faults, merciful, kind, generous, bearing the kind of fruit that pleases God. We can do these things from a wheelchair or a sickbed.
Our weaknesses need not make us unkind and uncaring persons. We may not be able to do it all, but we can do something for God and for those around us.
Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to look beyond our inabilities and find the wisdom and strength to bear good fruit in our lives. Amen.
About the Author:
Karlton Douglas lives in Ohio with his lovely wife. His prayer is that he will live a fruitful life.
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Have you considered the kind of seeds you are sowing, and the harvest you will reap?
This was great! Thank you so much for sharing. I have hypoglycemia, and if I “cheat” not only do I feel miserable, but my whole family suffers for days. Sometimes it doesn’t seem fair that we are required to have more self-control than the average person, but then I think of people in wheelchairs who have to have someone else brush their teeth, and remember how good I have it. Then I think that having to exercise self-control is actually a good thing, and keeps Biblical principles daily in force in my life. Maybe it’s actually a gift disguised as a trial.
Thank you again!
Thank you Kimberly 🙂 I have found that Dove sugar free dark chocolate can help to soothe my sugar cravings 🙂 I think you are right about gifts disguised as trials.
Blessings.
Karlton
Karlton: My hubby was diagnosed with Diabetes 2 just a couple of months ago, so I’m trying to stick to a diabetic diet as well. I’ve always felt it was a healthy way for all of us to eat. Because I had a stroke about 11 years ago, I try to exercise self- control, which, of course, is a fruit of the Spirit as Galations 5:22,23 tells us.
I also have a sweet tooth and do give in to temptation many times, but the Lord is helping me with this area of my life.
In answer to your question, yes, I do think about the seeds I’m planting and the harvest I’ll reap. But sometimes, in the food department, I confess, I stubbornly ignore what I know to be true and go ahead and disobey the Lord’s prompting.
I’m sure thankful for our understanding, forgiving Saviour!
Beth, I think controlling our eating habits is a huge challenge. I definitely need to do better, but I have improved 🙂 I hope you and your husband are well.
Blessings.
Karlton