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What the Fathers say
Eastern Fathers
John Chrysostom
And here he points out the difference between ambition of this kind, and in temporal affairs, by saying, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth unto his own flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life." As in the case of seeds, one who sows pulse cannot reap corn, for what is sown and what is reaped must both be of one kind, so is it in actions, he that plants in the flesh, wantonness, …
Theophylact of Ohrid
Since often some accused teachers of a bad life, despised them, and did not feed them in their poverty, he, although he says this later too: "let us not grow weary in doing good," nevertheless even now shows that one must be generous even toward such teachers, since this expenditure goes toward a spiritual matter. …
Oecumenius
"God is not mocked." He is not deceived, nor does he give evil to the good, or good in return to the evil. For it is necessary that the unfruitful be equal to the seed. And no one, having sown beans, would reap wheat.
Western Saints
Jerome
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked. Whatever a person sows, that will he also reap. By foreseeing with the Spirit, those who are being taught are able to provide for the needs and expenses of their teachers and to claim poverty, saying, 'My field has withered this year due to drought, my vineyard has been destroyed by hail, the taxes that could have been paid have been seized.' I do not have what is required to give. Therefore, do not be deceived, God is not mocked. …
Thomas Aquinas
Then when he says, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked," he forestalls an excuse. He says, therefore: "Be not deceived; God is not mocked." This can be taken in two ways, according to the two explanations given above. According to the first, this way: You say that we ought to imitate our teachers even in good things, but I cannot imitate them save in the things they do; and the only thing I observe in them is evil. Therefore, I ought to imitate them in evil. But he dismisses this, when he says, "Be not deceived, God is not mocked". …
Bonaventure
"What a man shall sow, that also shall he reap." If a lord were to give his servant grain to sow his field, and that servant were to put the grain in a sack and not sow it: the land would bear fruit poorly, indeed it would cry out against him. Just as mercy is a friend of wisdom, so avarice is its enemy. The avaricious deride all who do not love money.
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