“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 (NIV)

If a farmer goes out with a trailer load of beans and plants them in a barren field, what fruit does he expect to bear? Watermelon? Cucumbers? No, he’s going to get beans. He doesn’t doubt or question that outcome, because whatever you plant is what you’re going to get back.

This is the law of reproduction, and it applies to every single area of your life, especially your finances. Another way to explain the law of reproduction is this: You reap what you sow.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 9:6-7, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (NIV).

This can work either positively or negatively in your life. If you’re planting seeds of kindness, people will be kind to you. If you forgive others, they will be forgiving of you. If you’re generous, people will show generosity to you.

But if you are angry all the time, people will respond in anger. If you cheat other people, people are going to cheat you. If you gossip about other people, guess what? People are going to gossip about you.

The law of reproduction says that you reap what you sow. But the principle of multiplication says that you also always reap more than you sow.

When you put one kernel of corn in the ground, you don’t get one kernel of corn back. You get a cornstalk with multiple ears and hundreds of kernels. This is the exponential power that God has established in the universe. You always get more out of it than you put into it.

It’s why, when people verbally attack me, I never attack in return. Why? I don’t want to get caught in the chain. No matter what anyone says to me, I don’t want to say anything bad back to them because, if I do, I’m going to reap more than I sowed. Instead, I choose to do the exact opposite of what they’ve done to me. I choose to bless them and pray for them. Why? Because that’s what I want to receive, and I always reap more than I sow.

The Message paraphrase says, “The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller” (Proverbs 11:24).