This is the time of the school year that I will readily confess: I’m done. I’m tired of trying to get my kids up so they can start school “on time.” I’m weary of figuring out Algebra 2 polynomials and Spanish conjugations. I’m exhausted by my six-year-old’s inattentiveness to reading lessons and handwriting labors. I’m frustrated with all the squabbles and mini-arguments that I hear (or have to resolve) each day. And then there’s the weather…. This seems to be the year of perpetual snow, cold, rain, and gray skies. We were at 78 degrees on Sunday, and we had an inch of snow on Tuesday. The poor daffodils are not sure what to do—blossom or wilt—and I’m right there with them! Sigh. ‘Tis the season of weariness and irritability, I sadly confess.

Yet, the song by Steve Green, based on Galatians 6:9, has been running through my head so much today: “Let us not grow weary while doing good; in due season we shall reap, if we don’t lose heart….” It is a reminder for me that I need daily to keep faithfully disciplining and “discipling” my children in their behavior, and to keep our studies on pace as we approach the final few weeks of the school year. That song stands alone as a powerful reminder to me, but I was even more convicted by its content when I read it in context. Even if I only look at a few of the verses surrounding it, the concept of “not growing weary” takes on a whole new depth of meaning. “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.” (Galatians 6:7-10)

I tend to think of Scripture’s relevancy in my life in terms of questions I need to answer. In the case of this passage from Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia, these are the questions I must ask myself:

• What have I been sowing in my children in the past few months—seeds of excitement about learning, seeds of frustration at being “trapped” indoors, seeds of irritation over having to prepare another lunch, or seeds of love and kindness in any situation?
• Do I not believe that whatever I sow, that’s the crop I reap? Why does that truth not stay with me longer? If I sow irritability and anger, I reap petulance and anger from my children. If I sow joy and pleasantness, I typically reap that same crop from my gang.
• How can I deny that anger, raised voices, selfishness, and pride are seeds of my flesh, and they will produce corrupt fruits? But if I sow seeds of the Spirit, like love, peace, self-control, and gentleness, how can I ignore that I am guaranteed to reap a harvest of everlasting life and spiritual fruit?
• What does “doing good” really mean? Ergazomai, the Greek word for “doing” requires doing work, labor, or exercise. And “good” in the Greek is agathos, which involves being: of good constitution or nature, useful, pleasant, agreeable, joyful, excellent, and honorable. Can goodness be achieved without labor on my part? Any gardening I have ever attempted requires a lot of effort on my part. How can I expect that the gardens of my children’s hearts will require any less labor or exercise for good to be produced?
• What is the season for which I am waiting? “Due season” is the season that pertains to my own self or belonging to me, and it is a specific measure of time, a limited period of time, or an opportune time. Regardless of how it is interpreted, the reaping for that season can only happen if I don’t lose heart, becoming despondent, fainthearted, exhausted, and enfeebled from weariness.
• To whom am I supposed to be doing good? Let me tell you, this was probably the most convicting portion of the passage for me right now: I am to be doing good to the household of faith. I can’t get much closer to the household of faith (the household of God) than to my children in my own household, can I? I can’t exercise agreeability, joyfulness, and excellence to any other household of faith more opportunely than to my own family, correct?
• Am I living this passage?

Let us not grow weary, moms and dads, in doing good to our children and with our children in these final few weeks of school. Don’t lose heart. In due season, we will reap the fruit of the Holy Spirit’s work in their hearts, by God’s grace and goodness!