“Brothers, if
anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him
in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on
yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear
one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he
is nothing, he deceives himself. But let
each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself
alone and not in his neighbor. For each
will have to bear his own load.” –Galatians
6:1-5 (Read 6:1-10. ESV).
Christians are to be burden-bearers,
both for themselves and for others. This
puts into practice what Jesus taught us to do and to be. Jesus was the ultimate burden-bearer, taking
upon Himself the sin curse of mankind. Paul
instructs the Galatian Christians that bearing each other’s burdens is
fulfilling the law of Christ. The
Christian is free from obeying the Jewish ceremonial law that had become a
burden itself to those under that law.
Yet “the law of Christ” embodies the ethical and relational teachings
that Jesus gave when He walked among His disciples. For example, Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew
22:39, John 13:34). If we as Christians
could ever learn the depth of what Jesus meant by this law of love, we would be
at the very heart of “fulfilling the law
of Christ.” But in our humanness, we
fall far short of that measure of burden-bearing. Most of us fall far shy of treating others in
such a loving, forgiving manner. Yet
that should remain, still, our ultimate goal.
At first we might think that Paul wrote
in a somewhat contradictory manner in this passage from Galatians 6. He stated in verse 2: “Bear
ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Then almost immediately in 5 he
writes: “For each will have to bear his own load (burden).” The Greek word translated “burden” in
verse two, and also “burden” (or load) in verse 5 is different in the
Greek. In verse two we are urged to
share each other’s cares and sorrows and thus fulfill the royal law of love. This is to empathize with, to have genuine
sensitivity to the troubles and concerns of others, to seek to understand and
to console, to bear with. The interim
verse 4 has been translated by Dr. J. R. Dummelow to read: “Let each man test
his actions on their own merits and not by comparison with other men” (p.
956-57, One-Volume Bible Commentary.\,
1958). He gives verse 5 as, “For
each must bear his own load of responsibility” (ibid.). Burden (or load) in this verse uses the Greek word
for accountability and indicates that each person is ultimately responsible for
his own choices and actions—even those of helping others. In bearing burdens, that of a brother or
sister in Christ—or one’s own—we have the difference in approaching them from a
legal standpoint, because we feel an obligation to do so according to the law,
or we want to do so because we are motivated by love. The Christian is accountable, and has a
higher law—the law of love—by which to gauge his deeds and actions. A great
portion of the eastern coast of our country has been hit by Hurricane Sandy and
grave suffering is now occurring as an aftermath of that storm. Because we are a caring people, we want to
share with those who suffer. Many will
go to the stricken areas as volunteers, many at risk to their own lives and
certainly with expenditure of their own money, time and energy. Those of us who cannot go will seek to pray
and to give to authentic charitable means of helping to relieve the suffering. This is part of bearing one another’s
burdens. We have been (and are still in)
a “Unite-in-Prayer” effort to pray earnestly for America and that the upcoming
election will go according to God’s plan and purpose for our nation’s
leadership. When we learn the outcome,
we will need to live with and pray for our leadership and do what we can to
strengthen and support them and our nation.
Prayer:
God, teach us truly what burden-bearing and accountability mean that we
can fulfill the law of love. Amen.
