May 2-Help Your Fellow Christian

Good morning! I hope things have been going well for you. I’ve been sick—not so sure what it was, but I can tell you that it’s not anything you want! I’m very thankful that I was in a good place with good people to care for me—to help me bear this burden of sickness. Because when someone in your house or family, or even group is sick, it becomes everyone’s issue. That’s what Paul is telling us here about sin—that one persons sin becomes all of ours to help out with, just as we would if they fell ill. 

There is a lot of good, pastoral advice packed into this first verses of chapter 6. Every sentence or two could easily be its own devotional meditation.

First, Paul tells us that, if someone sins, we should gently work to restore that person.  We don't shame them.  We don't isolate them.  We don't stop spending time with them.  It has sometimes been said that, "The Christian army is the only army that shoots its wounded."

But we also don't pretend like nothing happened, either.  We don't sweep it under the rug.  We don't keep it a secret.  If we are helping to restore someone, that means we are doing something about the sin.  We are helping them make things right - repairing damages and relationships - with the goal of healing that person and the community of believers.

“Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.”

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭6:2‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Paul tells us to be on guard against temptation and follows this immediately with, "Bear one another's burdens."  Part of this may just be the wisdom that serving others is a great, practical way to escape temptation when it comes.  Serving others gets us out of our own heads and focused on other people.  But part of this is also that our burdens are often causes of temptation.  Our burdens cause us stress, fear, and pain, and it is in those times we are very prone to doing something we shouldn't.  By helping with one another's burdens, we help bring down everyone's susceptibility together.

We often think of sin as a private matter and a personal, individual struggle, but that is not how the New Testament talks about it.  Everyone's sin is everyone's problem.  It's something we fight as a team, and when it happens, we work together to make it right.

This might seem to contradict what Paul says next about each person carrying their own load and taking pride in their own work and not their neighbor's, but I doubt Paul decided to just contradict his own teaching in the very next sentence.

“Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else.”

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭6:4‬ ‭NLT‬‬

We get a clue a few verses down the chapter.  Paul notes that the Judaizers are disobeying the Law, but they're taking pride in the fact that people are getting circumcised.  In other words, they're personally disobedient to the Law, but they're proud of the fact that they've gotten others to follow it.

I think this is what Paul is getting at.  We should bear one another's burdens and help one another in the struggle against sin, but we also need to make sure we're also striving for obedience and not taking pride in how well we've been helping others or how well they're doing.  If you encourage other people to avoid sin, but you yourself are sinning, this is hypocrisy.  So, while helping others with their struggle, make sure you are paying attention to your own obedience as well.

Thank you Lord for people who help us, who are deeper in the faith and are ready to step in to share our burdens and teach us how to deal with them. Help us in turn to lovingly help those around us to feel comfortable to share issues with us. Please give us wisdom for these circumstances. We love you Lord and adore you. You are the Almighty One of heaven and we give you our praise and our worship. You are our God. Amen and amen. 

Love you dear one, 

Pam (and Philip)