Have you ever heard some one say, ”You reap what you sow.” It’s a reference to planting a certain kind of seed to get the kind of flower or fruit that was sown. If you plant apple seeds, you expect to get apples. If you plant tomatoes, you expect to gather tomatoes. This principle can also apply to love. In other words, if you sow love you expect to reap love.

Doesn’t Always Work Like That

I know what some of you are thinking. You’re thinking it doesn’t always work like that. I agree. It doesn’t always work like that. But did you notice that with all of the bad things that happen to farm crops much of us in the United States have more than enough to eat. It’s also true that, for various reasons, many also don’t have enough to eat. But when crops go bad, some farmers keep planting or replant until they get a good harvest.

Why Am I Not Being Loved?

When you sow love into a person’s life you hope to get that “kind” of love in return. But just like farmers don’t always get a good crop, the love you get in return may not be “good.” If the farmer sows bad seed, he will reap a bad crop. Likewise when we attempt to love one another with the best of intentions the love that we try to sow may be like bad seed. It disappoints, discourages and can leave you asking,Why am I not desirable? That’s when we have to do like farmers do and continue to plant love until we get a good crop. But there’s also the good seed of sincere love that nourishes the soul. But it may not be the type of love that’s needed at the moment. So you are being shown love but not the kind of love that addresses your need at the time.

What Kind of Love is This

When bad seed gets sown in the name of love, families are broken apart, friendships end, and people are left asking the question, “What kind of love is this?” For example, I have a wife, two daughters, a son and a grandson. I have to express my love to them in ways that they recognize as love. It doesn’t matter if I think they should “feel” loved or not. I have to try to love them the way they want to be loved not the way I want to love them. That’s not easy because it changes quickly and often. But when I don’t get it right, they go away asking, “What kind of love is this?” I’ve also been on the other side of this thought when I’ve received gifts that were great gifts but not what I asked for. I don’t go away asking what kind of love is this because I appreciate the gifts and the givers.

Ready for Love

In the farming analogy that I tried to use in this article, I mentioned that farmers need good seed to grow their crops. They also need ground that’s been prepared to receive the seed. The ground needs to be opened up and have the proper nutrients in it to receive and grow the seed to fruition. Our hearts are the ground that receives or rejects love. A heart that’s open to being loved and has true love sown into it can return true love. It can meet the need.

Conclusion

I believe that you truly reap what you sow. I also believe that it doesn’t always work that way. But I also believe that if we want to be loved we need to make sure that we’re sowing love. Understanding the people that we need to love is the key to loving them in the way that they want to be loved. But for the most part, you reap what you sow.