Loving others as Jesus has loved us is our commandment.
“Bear one another’s burdens,” Paul wrote, “and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).
One of the ways to fulfill Christ’s commandment to love others is to bear their burdens as He did ours.
The Greek word “baros,” translated as“burden” in Galatians 6:2, means “heaviness, weight, burden, trouble” (Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon). This is a burden so heavy that if someone isn't assisted in carrying it, they will be overwhelmed.
This burden can be a sin or a circumstance. If it’s a sin, we must restore the person gently, remembering that we’re also tempted and not immune to sinning (Galatians 6:1). If it’s a circumstance, we should be available, praying, listening, and helping them bear the weight of their burden. If it’s within our power, our love must help alleviate their suffering. Regardless of whether it’s a sin or a circumstance, when we assist others in bearing their burdens, we fulfill Christ’s commandment to love as He has loved us.
Paul continued in Galatians 6:3: “For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.”
Paul argued that if we believe we are too important to assist others in overcoming their challenges, we are deceived about our own significance. We aren’t better than anyone else, and we certainly don’t have any excuse for not helping restore others. The Amplified Bible Classic translates Galatians 6:3 in this way: “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.”
Paul further wrote in Galatians 6:4: “But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.”
To assist others in bearing their burdens, we must lay down any lofty opinion of ourselves. Intolerance toward those who have sinned is a sign of our own susceptibility to sin. Pride breeds the sin of self-righteousness in us.
In Galatians 6:4, Paul gives us an answer for pride. A realistic assessment of our own shortcomings will humble us, better enabling us to help others. Matthew 7:3-5 offers this same message: “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 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.”
Paul wrote in Galatians 6:5: “For each one shall bear his own load.”
In this verse, Paul used the exact opposite of Galatians 6:2 to make a point. In Galatians 6:2, Paul instructed, “Bear one another’s burdens.” In Galatians 6:3-4, he took away any objections someone might have to help others. In this verse, Paul settled the argument: “For every man shall bear his own burden.” His reasoning is that since we all carry our own burdens and know what it’s like to be overwhelmed by their weight, we should not hesitate to help others in their struggles.
It’s so easy to deceive ourselves into thinking that we’re better than someone else—that we’re not above sin or facing a difficult situation. The difficult burdens we carry should reveal to us the pain of someone else’s burden. If we aren’t deceived by a spirit of pride, our burdens fill us with compassion to help others bear their load.
None of us know what we will face in this life. We all need mercy and help with our burdens. Jesus extended mercy to help us. James 2:13 states that God doesn’t extend mercy to those who show no mercy. Those who don’t help others won’t be helped themselves. Helping others sow a seed for their needs is also sowing a seed for my own future needs.
What I sow into others, I will reap (Galatians 6:7).
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