He was rude to everyone, and now he reaps what he sows.
reap what you sow
idiomYour actions produce their own inevitable consequences, good or bad.
Origin
The phrase comes from Paul's letter to the Galatians, 6:7: "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." The metaphor is agricultural and exact — plant one crop and you will harvest that crop, not another.
Paul's point is moral cause and effect: conduct has consequences that ripen in their own time, and there is no cheating the process. Sow selfishness and you gather its fruit; sow generously and the harvest matches.
English uses the phrase both ways but leans toward the cautionary. To reap what you sow is to face the results of your own earlier actions — usually said when someone's troubles are the predictable outcome of how they behaved.
You reap what you sow: years of ignoring the maintenance, and now the whole roof needs replacing.
The company cut corners on safety for a decade to boost margins, and when the lawsuits finally arrived, few observers had much sympathy — it was reaping what it had sown.
Acts and the letters of Paul to the first churches.
- 01
the root of all evil (idiom)
The underlying source of much wrongdoing — most often applied to money.
- 02
fight the good fight (idiom)
To persevere with determination in a worthy and difficult struggle.
- 03
a thorn in the side (idiom)
A persistent source of irritation, trouble, or difficulty.
- 04
road to Damascus (idiom)
An important point in someone's life where a great change, or reversal, of ideas or beliefs occurs.
- 05
the wages of sin (idiom)
The inevitable painful consequences of wrongdoing.
- 06
in the twinkling of an eye (idiom)
In an instant; extremely quickly.