Passage: Galatians 6:2-5
The Big Idea
Legalism loads heavy burdens onto people and won’t lift a finger to help. The law of Christ does the opposite: bear one another’s burdens. Jesus gave us a new commandment, to love one another as He has loved us. Instead of putting burdens on people, believers get under the load with them and take burdens off.
Review: Restoring the Fallen
When a brother or sister is caught in sin, what do we do (Galatians 6:1)? Gently restore them to a trusting, dependent relationship with Jesus. Reach out to help, instead of gossiping about them or coming down hard on them, even if they’re failing spiritually.
That’s what shepherds do. Someone once said most people want to serve God, but only in an advisory capacity!
Through Ezekiel, God rebuked the shepherds of Israel who fed themselves instead of the flock. They ate the fat and wore the wool, but didn’t strengthen the weak, heal the sick, bind up the broken, bring back the strays or seek the lost. Instead they ruled with force and harshness. So God said He Himself would shepherd His flock: He would seek the lost, bring back the strays, bind up the broken and strengthen the weak (Ezekiel 34:1-4, 15-16).
- God cares about the needs and good of the flock.
- That’s what spiritual, Christlike people do. That’s spiritual leadership.
Bear One Another’s Burdens (Galatians 6:2)
Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
- We help each other carry life’s burdens.
- At the same time, as verse 5 says, each of us carries our own load. We aren’t meant to dump our responsibilities onto others.
One-Another Ministry
We aren’t just separate limbs attached to a head. We’re tied into each other.
- We have many members in one body, with different functions. In the same way, we who are many are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another (Romans 12:4-5).
- Love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor (Romans 12:10). In the world, people fight to get ahead in line. In Christ, we put others first.
- Welcome one another, just as Christ welcomed you, for the glory of God (Romans 15:7).
Make room for one another. The world likes to form exclusive groups based on color, education, nationality and more. One of our most powerful ministries to each other is acceptance: saying, “I want you here.”
No matter how unlovable, unworthy or unacceptable people may seem, we’re called to love them.
That’s how we bear one another’s burdens: we team up with people, or put up with them, even if they aren’t the people we’d naturally choose to hang out with. Even loud people. Even people who tap their feet constantly. Even people who just plain annoy you.
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you (Ephesians 4:32). It makes me so happy when my kids are kind to each other. Our heavenly Father feels the same way.
Encourage one another and build each other up, just as you are already doing (1 Thessalonians 5:11).
Your Ministry Starts Today
Sometimes people say, “I need a ministry.” Here’s one you can start today and do all day, every day: look for other believers who are weighed down, and get under that load with them and help them back up.
- Pray for them.
- Comfort them.
- Build them up.
- Be kind to them.
- Team up with them.
I’d be astonished if there weren’t someone around you right now carrying a crushing burden in their heart. This is a ministry we have right now.
God described the kind of “fast” He really wants: to loosen the bonds of wickedness, undo heavy burdens, let the oppressed go free and break every yoke; to share your bread with the hungry, bring the homeless poor into your house, clothe the naked, and not hide from your own family (Isaiah 58:6-7).
- That’s the opposite of what a legalistic person brings into someone’s life.
- Jesus pronounced woe on the experts in the law who loaded people with burdens hard to carry, but wouldn’t lift a finger to help them (Luke 11:46).
The Law of Christ
Jesus gave His disciples a new commandment: love one another, just as He has loved you. That’s how everyone will know you’re His disciples, by your love for one another (John 13:34-35).
- You don’t have to teach a little kid to be self-centered. Every toddler knows how to say, “Mine!” That resource comes naturally from Adam. This is a different resource, from Christ.
- God wants the world to be astonished by the great love we have for one another.
- The Old Testament already said to love your neighbor. So what’s new here? “As I have loved you.” Sacrificial love. A whole new dimension.
All through this letter Paul has battled the legalists. Here he lands another blow. In effect he says, “You want to fulfill the law? Great! Here’s your law: bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
You were called to freedom, but don’t use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; through love serve one another. The whole Law is fulfilled in one word: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Galatians 5:13-14).
- We’re freed from the Law, not to be legalistic, and not to let our flesh do whatever it wants, but to fulfill the Law by loving our neighbor.
- We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not please ourselves (Romans 15:1).
- It’s a mark of spiritual strength to take burdens off people, to relieve pressure.
- Why forgive our brothers and sisters when they wrong us? Because holding unforgiveness over their heads adds pressure. Forgiveness lifts the load.
A Warning: Self-Righteous Service
Even serving can come from the flesh. Richard Foster drew a helpful contrast between self-righteous service and true service:
- Self-righteous service comes through human effort. True service flows from a relationship with God deep inside.
- Self-righteous service is impressed with the “big deal.” True service can hardly tell the difference between small and large acts of service.
- Self-righteous service needs outside rewards and recognition. True service is content to stay hidden.
- Self-righteous service worries about results. True service is free from the need to calculate results.
- Self-righteous service picks and chooses whom to serve. True service serves anyone.
- Self-righteous service depends on moods and whims. True service ministers simply and faithfully because there’s a need.
- Self-righteous service is temporary. True service is a lifestyle.
- Self-righteous service is insensitive; it insists on “helping” even when that would do harm. True service can hold back as freely as it gives.
- Self-righteous service splinters community. True service builds it.
Jesus said that since He, their Lord and Teacher, had washed their feet, they also ought to wash one another’s feet. He gave us an example to do as He has done (John 13:14-15).
He is our example.
Mr. Corporal
During the American Revolution, a man in civilian clothes rode past a group of exhausted soldiers repairing a small defensive barrier. Their leader was shouting orders but not lifting a finger to help. When the rider asked why, the man answered with great dignity, “Sir, I am a corporal!”
The stranger apologized, got off his horse and helped the soldiers until the job was done. Then he turned to the corporal and said, “Mr. Corporal, next time you have a job like this and not enough men to do it, go to your commander-in-chief, and I’ll come and help you again.”
It was George Washington.
So instead of putting burdens on people, we as believers take burdens off them.
What’s Weighing You Down?
What’s holding you down right now? Commitments. Sickness. Finances. Family pressures. A child with special needs. Bills. Busyness. Not enough time with the people you love. Social media. Endless email. Fear.
Whatever it is, you aren’t meant to carry it alone. And the person next to you isn’t either.
Let’s pray for one another. Comfort one another. Build one another up. Be kind to one another. Team up with one another.
Grace Takeaway
Legalism piles burdens on people and walks away. Jesus got under the heaviest burden of all, our sin, and carried it to the cross. Now His love in you fulfills the law of Christ. Look around for someone who’s weighed down, get under the load with them, and help take their burden off.