Galatians 6:9
“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”
King James Version (KJV)
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Following the principle of sowing and reaping, Paul encourages perseverance in doing good, assuring the Galatians that the harvest comes in its own time for those who endure.
What Does Galatians 6:9 Mean?
Paul encourages the worn-down to keep going: do not get tired of doing good, because the harvest will come at the right time for those who do not give up. He has just spoken of sowing and reaping, and now he applies it pastorally. Doing good can become exhausting, especially when results are slow and gratitude is thin. Paul names that fatigue honestly rather than pretending it away.
The promise is anchored in timing -- "in due season." The harvest follows the farmer's clock, not the planter's impatience; there is a built-in gap between sowing and reaping that tempts people to quit just before the crop appears. "If we faint not" sets the one condition: not flawless performance, but endurance. The word pictures someone collapsing from exhaustion or losing heart entirely. Paul's whole concern in the letter has been people abandoning a good beginning, and here he turns that warning into gentle encouragement. Keep sowing the good; the season will arrive. For anyone tired of quiet faithfulness that seems to yield nothing, this verse promises that the labor is not lost. The harvest is delayed, not denied -- so do not lay down the work just before it ripens.
In the Original Language
Enkakōmen, "be weary," means to lose heart or grow tired; kairō idiō, "due season," is the fitting appointed time; eklyomenoi, "faint," pictures collapsing from exhaustion.
Cross References
“But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing.”
- 2 Thessalonians 3:13
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
- 1 Corinthians 15:58
“For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”
- Hebrews 12:3
Application
When doing good feels thankless and slow, hold on; the harvest comes on God's timing, not yours, and quitting early is the one way to forfeit it.