When you give seed offerings to the Lord, are you sowing into good ground? How do you know if you’re sowing into good ground or bad ground? What makes the difference between the two?
Related: Name Your Seed When You Sow an Offering!
People have been asking me a lot lately about the process of naming your seed when you sow an offering.
So, I want to share three keys today that will help you discern between good ground and bad ground. If you evaluate every ministry or church into which you sow in light of these three keys, you can tell pretty easily which is which.
These three keys will show you where your seeds will thrive, bringing you a thirty-, sixty-, or hundred-fold harvest … versus where your seeds may die in the ground (or bring you a stunted harvest at best).
Here are the three keys to distinguishing between good ground and bad ground:
1. In order for you to be sowing into good ground, the place you’re sowing into must obey the Word of God–the Bible–above all things.
Honoring the Word of God is more important than anything in a church. If you want to see a harvest, you can’t sow into a ministry or a church that:
- doesn’t honor God’s Word;
- doesn’t believe God’s Word;
- takes out parts of God’s Word that it doesn’t like;
- refuses to obey God’s Word;
- preaches the Word from the pulpit but does another thing behind the stage doors.
If you want to sow into good ground, you can’t sow into a place that goes against God’s Word.
There are churches out there that are preaching all kinds of heresy. Stay away from those churches!
There are places preaching that homosexual marriage is okay; that homosexuality is not sin. There are places that are teaching that abortion is okay, and that it’s not sin. There are places that are preaching that women can’t minister or preach from the pulpit.
There are places that are preaching all manner of ungodly things, and none of those things are true.
Then, there are places that will preach the Word but they won’t do it; they’ll do something else behind closed doors. If you’re sowing into a place like that, you’re either not going to get a return at all, or it’s going to be a tiny little return.
When I’ve sown into a place like that (not knowing what kind of place it was, but finding out later), the seed never did come up. Why? Because it was stony ground; it was rocky ground; there was nothing for the seed to grow in. You’ve got to have the Word as the sperma (which is the Greek word for God’s Word)!
The Word of God is the sperma. It’s the incubator; it’s the thing that grows. If you’re not sowing into the Word, then your seed is just not going to grow. Honoring the Word is priority #1, and a place that’s good ground will honor the Word.
Related: Are You a Disciple of Jesus or a Fan of Jesus?
2. In order to be good ground, a church or ministry must actually worship God–including worshipping Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity.
How can you tell if they worship God? Easy: The Holy Spirit has to be in control in that place, or they’re not worshipping God.
Think about this:
There are some churches where the Holy Spirit is not in control.
In those places, the clock is in control; the schedule is in control; man’s predetermined ideas are in control. But the Holy Spirit is not in control.
If you are sowing into a place where Holy Spirit is not in control, then Jesus is not Lord in that place. If God the Holy Spirit is not in control of a place, then God is not being worshiped in that place. And if you’re now sowing into a place where God is not being worshiped–where He’s not being exalted above all things; where Holy Spirit doesn’t have the reign–then you’re not sowing into good ground.
Know this: A place that is good ground will give Holy Spirit both the REIGN and the REINS. They worship Him and give control over their service and ministry over to Him (REIGN). They also let Him do whatever He wants (REINS).
If Holy Spirit does not have both the REIGN and the REINS, He is not being worshipped.
Unless we give Him those two things, He is not being worshiped. He is not in control; man is. And if you’re sowing into a place like that, your seed is not going to come up well for you. Oh, you might get a tiny little harvest, because Holy Spirit is going to try to go in there and work as much as He can. However, when man is in control and not the Lord, there’s only so much that God can do.
I have sown a whole lot into places where Holy Spirit did not have the reign or the reins, and I didn’t realize it at the time. I didn’t realize that I was sowing into bad ground, or ground that wasn’t fertile.
But, later on, after I had sown into other ground as well and could compare multiple kinds of seeds, I could see that there is a huge difference between sowing into good ground and sowing into where it’s not good ground. And in order to be good ground, Holy Spirit has to have both the reign and the reins.
Next, the third key to discerning the difference between good ground and bad ground:
3. You have to sow into a place where growth is allowed.
This is certainly not more important than Word or Spirit, but if there is a place that is operating in a spirit of control, your seed is not going to grow. Why? Because growth is not allowed there.
When there is a ministry or a church that operates in a spirit of control, that spirit of control manifests in a lot of different ways. One of the ways that it manifests is that people are not encouraged to grow. The leader tries to keep the people under their thumb, not encouraging them to spread their wings. And if people do spread their wings, they’re squashed, smashed, or talked badly about.
A spirit of control also manifests by trying to control Holy Spirit. For example, if there’s a church service and the leaders don’t allow Holy Spirit to move but instead they say, “No, we have to stick to the program. We have to end this service by 12:00 noon.” that’s fleshly control. It’s certainly not an example of handing the reins to the Lord.
If Holy Spirit shows that He wants to do something different than what’s on the worship order, we have to go with the Holy Spirit.
That is what every single church and ministry leader needs to do. That’s not always easy; it’s definitely hard sometimes. As a leader of a ministry myself, I can say that sometimes we get really excited about our plan. We get excited about the sermon we wanted to preach or the songs we wanted to sing.
Of course, anything we do with Holy Spirit is fun if we’re just willing to follow Him. However, changing the plan and making sure the Lord has the reins can be a challenge. You just have to be totally sold out to the Lord, saying, “Lord, even if I never get to preach my amazing word that I worked so hard on and I’m so excited about, I don’t care, God; because I’m going to follow You.”
That’s where we all have to be. If you’re sowing into a ministry where that happens, where the church services and ministry are not controlled by man, but are rather controlled by what the Lord is breathing on, that’s a good thing.
People have to lead; don’t get me wrong.
However, there’s a big difference between control and leadership.
If you’re sowing into a place where the whole environment and atmosphere are controlled by man–a place where growth is not encouraged–then your seed will not thrive.
If you’re sowing into a place that is so much under the spirit of control that:
- people are not encouraged to start their own ministries;
- people are not encouraged to branch out;
- new ideas are not entertained even if they’re now always implemented …
Then your seed will not thrive.
In order for a place to be good ground, there has to be an environment where growth is encouraged.
Bottom line is this:
Your seed cannot thrive if you cannot thrive. Your seed cannot grow if you cannot grow.
That’s really the essence of what you can use to base your analysis on after looking at people’s obedience to the Word and after evaluating how much Holy Spirit reigns in a place. After you look at those two most important criteria, then ask yourself:
“Is this a growth environment? Am I thriving here?”
If you can thrive, your seed can thrive.
But if you can’t thrive, your seed can’t thrive either.
Beloved, if you’re going to reap a good harvest from the financial seeds you sow, you have to sow into good ground.
And in order to be in good ground, you’ve got to be in a place that’s thriving and where the people are thriving. They have to be obeying the Word and everything about the Word. They have to follow Holy Spirit, handing Him both the reign and the reins. And lastly, you have to be in a place where growth is encouraged in order for your seed to grow and bring you a harvest.
Have you been sowing into good ground? What makes the ground you’re in good or not? Leave a comment below!
When you sow your seed, does it have to be into a church? Can it be something like Samaritan’s Purse or a food bank? Or if you don’t have a church, can you sow or tithe to a teacher who is feeding you the Word like you, Jamie?
Hey sis, great questions. Here are my thoughts:
Seed: Can be into any godly ministry or church, yes.
Tithe: Goes into the storehouse per Malachi 3. This is the place where you are fed. In the first tithe, Abraham tithed to Melchizedek–the priest. And later, when the Law was given, the tithe was meant to support the priests. So, I would say, your tithe goes to your local church first and foremost. If you do not have a local church, then I would tithe to wherever you are fed by the priests of God. This would not include a humanitarian charity for tithe; the tithe would only go to the place that teaches you the Word and where you worship and encounter God.
I hope that helps! Thanks for reading!
Jamie
Is it true that you should not sow your seed where there is need. I have felt so much pressure to sow into this ministry that I befriended online. They actually stayed with me for 5 weeks. They appear to be faithful, generous, tireless workers for the Lord giving prophetic instruction and encouragement cheerfully for no fee. They seem really solid but they are in constant desperate need. I have found I am giving all I have and going without on many occasions because they were behind in their rent, without food, needing medical care etc etc. Today it was her birthday and the pressure has been on for several days to make her day special. I sent a loving text and card but no money. I just felt the pressure was not of the Lord. I always struggled with the scripture that says if you have it in your hand to give and a person is in need don’t say God bless you and walk away.
Hi Lenora. I don’t necessarily believe it’s true that you should not sow seed where there is need, but I do think there are other red flags here that, if I were i your shoes, would indicate to me that this situation is not from the Lord:
1. You have no peace about it. Colossians 3:15 (AMPC) says peace should be your umpire, deciding with finality all matters that arise in your heart. Peace is also a fruit of the Spirit, as is joy. No peace? No joy? God isn’t in it.
2. Ministering for no fee is not a sign of holiness. Actually, it doesn’t line up with God’s Word at all.
3. This family should be providing for themselves; and if the work of the ministry doesn’t provide what they need, then they need to stop the work of the ministry and get a job, according to Scripture. 1 Timothy 5:8: “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” This is THEIR responsibility, not yours, other than anything the Lord directly tells you to contribute (see #1).
4. God gives seed to the sower and bread for food. Not everything He gives is seed, and not everything He gives is bread. You have to discern the difference (see #1). If you’re going without so they can be supported, then you’re sowing your bread–and you should never sow your bread. Only sow your seed. EAT your bread.
5. If they’re behind in their rent, then they have money management issues/stewardship issues. You can’t give enough to heal money management issues. They need to submit to the Lord (see #2 and #3) in order for this to be fixed in their lives. You can’t fix it. In that one area, I do think we shouldn’t give into “need” if the giving is actually enabling the bad stewardship (see #3).
6. I understand that Scripture about “be warm and be filled,” but we have to look at all the other Scriptures too. Taken as a whole, the Bible says you’ll always have enough for every good work. The question is, is providing for these people’s needs and enabling them to continue in an unholy manner in their finances “a good work”? It doesn’t sound like it is, to me anyway, based on the limited information you shared in this comment.
These are only a few things to take to the Lord. Remember Colossians 3:15. The Lord will show you. You hear Him! But you are right–the pressure is manipulation, not Holy Spirit. God never manipulates. He speaks, directs, convicts, and brings joy. It’s more blessed to give than to receive. If your giving isn’t more blessed than even your receiving, then you’re giving and God didn’t mean for you to do so.
Hope this helps. Much love to you!
Jamie
hi jaime
can the tithe be given to more than one place where I am being feed spiritually
Hi friend, that would be something the Lord would need to direct you on. I’m not sure how to answer it!
someone told me that God said sow on good ground what’s your reply
I am confused about sowing my tithe in the church I have been attending for several years, albeit not every Sunday. They just invited 143 people who were tithers into a special luncheon to let them know (I wasn’t invited) that the church is in financial trouble and they will probably have to sell the church. I go to this church a lot and have seen attendance fall off. I am wondering if this is a good place to sow. Apparently, a family member who was invited to the meeting, told me they are paying bill currently with credit cards but once the bank finds out they will probably foreclose. This is a bible believing church. I sowed my tithe into another church I attended for a while but the minister went to another church in another town but I was greatly blessed, got a job, etc. Since sowing here, not so much. But, yet, they are good people!
What do you think, I am hesitant to sow my tithe anymore here?
Hey Celia, if I were in your shoes I would not attend a church that isn’t good ground. I would find a place to attend that IS good ground, and then I would pay my tithe there.
Hope this helps.
In Christ,
Jamie
Thanks for sharing this. There are so many ministries out there saying that this is good ground to sow. I have sowed into some bad ministries, and this has answered my questions why I have not seen any good return or nothing at all. I am praying and asking the Lord this time before proceeding to sow into any ministry.
God bless you for sharing this! I just got some revelation about sowing into good ground versus bad ground and then did a google search to see what would populate. I didn’t know there was such a thing as sowing into bad ground! In my ignorance, I thought through simply tithing/giving to a church, that my finances will be blessed because of this act of obedience! Until recently, the online pastor/apostle whose online church service I attend, encouraged those of us who don’t have a church home yet, to sow into his church because it is good ground. So that made me think—so that means you can sow into a church that DOESN’T have good ground? It is evident that this Pastor is following the Lord, and his church worships God in spirit and in truth! So to conclude, I am glad I found a church (even it’s in the mean time), where I am sowing into good ground. From your blog, I learned that a church isn’t good ground, if they don’t allow the Holy Spirit to move freely in the place—Wow! I learned something new. It is so ashamed and sad how churches choose to operate these days instead of seeing the importance of how people really need deliverance and the fire of the Lord!