James 3:18—Sowing in peace

And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. James 3:18

James 3 ends with a triumphant statement which includes four key components: the seed, its fruit, the sowing, and the sower.

The seed. When seed is mentioned in the New Testament, it typically means the Word of God. The seed which James referred to is the wisdom from above—first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy (see James 3:17). Any act of obedience to the Word of God is seed that you sow. Likewise, when you shun those things that are contrary to the Bible or which violate your conscience, you are sowing good seed.

Its fruit. Good seed produces good fruit. Does fruit appear immediately once the seed is planted? Not in nature, it doesn’t. But good seed, nonetheless, develops over time into good fruit. This seed, the wisdom from above, acted on in obedience to the Word and the Spirit of God, is excellent seed, and as Peter wrote, it’s imperishable and indestructible (see 1 Peter 1:23). And imperishable seed can only produce one kind of fruit—imperishable. Do you want the indestructible fruit of righteousness abounding in your life? If so, it’s worth your time and effort to find out what God’s wisdom is for your life—and then act on it.

The sowing. The way you sow your seed is more significant than you may realize. God has given you amazing seed which produces awesome fruit, but there is a way in which to sow it that will produce the best results. Not having a green thumb myself, I have observed others who do go to great lengths not only to secure good seed to sow, but also to make certain that they plant it correctly. I have a hunch that the rewards you receive on the Day you see Jesus face to face will reflect your manner of sowing just as much as the fruit produced by your sowing.

How do you sow, then? James wrote that you sow in peace; in other words, if there is bitter jealousy in your heart or any selfish ambition, you will find sowing in peace impossible. Your sowing must be in accordance with the gentleness of wisdom (James 3:13), not in the bitterness of one-upsmanship. Your sowing must be pure and with a reasonable, kind demeanor; your sowing must be with merciful words, behavior, and deeds; you must sow while standing unwaveringly in the Truth; and you must sow in genuineness and sincerity, without hypocrisy (see James 3:17). This is how you sow.

The sower. That’s you. And James gave you a title: one who makes peace. As you sow your seed in peace, in the gentleness of wisdom, with purity, reasonableness, mercy and kind deeds, exerting steadfastness, and without any hypocrisy, you, the sower, are a peacemaker. You are not a competitor. You are not a fault-finder. You are not an underminer. No, you are a peacemaker on a quest for wisdom from above.

May you reap a harvest of the fruit of righteousness as you sow the good seed of God’s wisdom!

Dorothy