Neville Goddard on Galatians 6:7

Executive Summary

Neville Goddard explains that the scriptural warning, “Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap,” describes an inviolable law of consciousness. He identifies “God” in this context not as an external deity, but as one's own human imagination. The act of “sowing” is the act of imagining, and “reaping” is the experience of one’s imaginal acts as the circumstances of life. This is the Law of the Identical Harvest: everything in your world is the direct result of what you have planted in your imagination, whether you remember doing so or not.

Key Concepts

• The “God” who is not mocked is your own human imagination.
• “Sowing” refers to your imaginal acts—what you entertain in your mind morning, noon, and night.
• “Reaping” is the experience of the conditions and events that appear in your world.
• This principle is called the Law of the Identical Harvest; every imaginal seed brings forth after its own kind.
• You are the sole cause of your life's circumstances, as you are the only one who plants these seeds with your imagination.
• People often forget their past imaginal acts and therefore deny that their current experiences are their own harvest.

Detailed Explanation

In Neville Goddard's teaching, Galatians 6:7 is not a moral warning from an external God, but a statement of a fundamental, impersonal law of consciousness. The “God” who cannot be mocked is explicitly identified as your own imagination. The law is absolute: you cannot deceive yourself by imagining one thing and expecting to experience another. Your imagination is the creative power within you, and it faithfully produces a harvest identical to the seeds you plant.

The process of “sowing” is the act of imagining. Everything you entertain in your imagination is a seed being sown in the soil of your consciousness. This is a continuous activity, happening “morning, noon and night.” The “reaping” is the subsequent objectification of these imaginal acts in your world. The conditions you encounter, the events that unfold, and the people you meet are all your harvest, grown from seeds you planted yourself. This is the Law of the Identical Harvest, where every cause produces an effect of its own nature, just as corn produces corn.

This interpretation places full responsibility for the conditions of life upon the individual. You are the sole planter in your world. If you encounter undesirable circumstances, the cause is not external, but internal—in the imaginal acts you have performed. Often, a person forgets the imaginal seeds they have sown in the past. Because of this “fading memory,” they fail to recognize their present reality as their own creation and deny their own harvest. The law, however, remains constant: you are forever reaping what you have, consciously or unconsciously, imagined.

Important Quotes

Be not deceived. God is not mocked.” God is your imagination; he’s not mocked. “As a man sows, so shall he reap.”

— Imagination

Let no one be deceived, for God – which is his own imagination – is not mocked. As a man sows, so shall he reap.”

— Imagination Plus Faith

I am sowing – morning, noon and night by what I entertain in my imagination, for that is Christ Jesus.

— No Other Gods

All that is taking place in your world; you planted. There is only one Planter in the world, and the Planter is God, but man looks for God outside of himself, and we are warned that He is within us.

— The Identical Harvest

Related Concepts

• Imagination: This concept is central, as imagination is explicitly defined as the “God” who is not mocked and the creative power that does the “sowing.” Man is all imagination, and this power is Christ Jesus.
• Law of Assumption: The principle of sowing and reaping is the Law of Assumption in action. What you assume and entertain in imagination (sowing) will inevitably harden into the fact you experience (reaping). The teaching to “not grow weary in well doing” is a call to persist in a loving assumption until it is harvested.
• I AM: The teaching that the planter, God, is within man points directly to the concept of I AM as the indwelling creative power responsible for all phenomena in one's world.

Common Misunderstandings

• An External God: The source material directly corrects the belief that the “God” in this verse is a being separate from yourself. Neville states that God is your own imagination and is within you.
• External Causation: This teaching refutes the idea that life's events are random or caused by external forces. It insists that you alone planted everything taking place in your world through your own imaginal activity, even if you have forgotten doing so.

Practical Applications

• To change your life's circumstances (the harvest), you must change what you are consistently imagining (the seeds you sow). You must become aware of your inner activity.
• You are encouraged to persist in “well doing,” which is defined as exercising your imagination lovingly on behalf of another. If you do not lose heart and faint, you are promised that you will reap a corresponding harvest in due season.
• Rather than looking for external causes for your problems, you must accept that you are the source. Test yourself and recognize that the conditions of your life are the result of your past imaginal acts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the 'God' that is not mocked in Galatians 6:7?

According to these teachings, the 'God' who is not mocked is your own wonderful human imagination.

What does it mean to 'sow' and 'reap'?

'Sowing' is the act of imagining; it is what you entertain in your consciousness. 'Reaping' is the experience of those imaginal acts as the objective conditions and events of your life.

Why don't I remember causing the negative events in my life?

The source material explains that people often forget their past imaginal acts due to a 'fading memory,' and therefore fail to recognize their current circumstances as their own harvest.