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Monday, January 20, 2025

Bear Another's Burden



 

—Galatians 6:2-5

(2)Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. (3) For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. (4) But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. (5) For each one shall bear his own load.


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Jesus Christ summed up all of the Old Testament Law in His commandment to love God and others as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40). Then He gave us an even greater command to love others as He has loved us (John 13:34). One way we love others as Jesus loved us is to bear their burdens as Jesus bore ours.

 

The Greek word “baraos,” translated as “burden” in Galatians 6:2, means “heaviness, weight, burden, trouble” (Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon). This burden is so heavy that a person will be overcome if he has no help in carrying it. This can be a sin (Galatians 6:1) or a situation in life. When we bear another’s burden, we fulfill Christ’s commandment to love. We should care beyond just seeing others hurt. As much as we can, we should lighten their load.

 

The Amplified Bible translates Galatians 6:3 as, “For if any person thinks himself to be somebody [too important to condescend to shoulder another’s load] when he is nobody [of superiority except in his own estimation], he deceives and deludes and cheats himself.”

 

If we think we are too important to help others with their burdens, we are deceived about our own importance. This was one of the sins of the Pharisees. We are nothing within ourselves, and none of us has an excuse for not helping restore our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

 

Galatians 6:4 warns us that arrogance and pride will prevent us from helping others bear their burdens. A holier-than-thou attitude toward those who have sinned or are in deep trouble only shows our own vulnerability. 

 

“And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?” Jesus asked in Matthew 7:3-5. “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

 

In Galatians 6:4, Paul gives advice on dealing with the hypocrisy Jesus addressed. If we humbly and truthfully acknowledge our own weaknesses, we will be better equipped to help others with their burdens.

 

In Galatians 6:2, Paul said we were to bear each other’s burdens, and in Galatians 6:3-4, Paul threw out any objections someone might have against bearing someone’s burden. Then, in Galatians 6:5, Paul makes his closing argument: “For every man shall bear his own burden.” 

 

This is not the opposite of Galatians 6:2. In Galatians 6:5, Paul concludes that since we all have burdens, we should not hesitate to help others with theirs. Galatians 6:7 says that we reap what we sow, and James 2:13 says God doesn’t extend mercy to those who show no mercy. If we don’t help others, we won’t be helped. But if we help others, we will sow seeds for our upcoming needs in this life.

 

“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:38).

 

Our needs will be met according to how we help meet the needs of others.

 


 

 

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