Galatians 6:1-3NKJV

Bear and Share Burdens

6 Brethren, if a man is ^[a]overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. 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.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

The English poet John Donne famously wrote, “No man is an island.”

Whether we are Believers or Non-Believers, we each need to realize something which was very important to Jesus: we are all members of a larger community.

No believer in Christ should think or allow themselves to feel he/she is totally independent of others. No Christian should ever try to think he is on his own.

As in a family, connections, Koinonia fellowship, relationships, in the body of Christ— the church—function best when there’s a deep-felt awareness and a genuine concern for others, even while we are maintaining healthy boundaries.

The common good requires our working together to restore relationships that are broken by sin— and doing so with a spirit of gentleness and self-awareness.

Whatever sin a person is guilty of, we must not boast, “That would never happen to me!” Such pride is inevitably the first step toward a mighty fall.

A humble, gentle inquiry such as “How may I help?” or “How may I pray for you?” can be the beginning toward gaining someone’s confidence without coming across as being disrespectful, over-bearing, intrusive, interfering.

People truly need their privacy, even when being helped in a sinful situation.

Gentle restoration demands respecting the person as being one of God’s most beloved, much cherished image bearers and allowing for their personal privacy.

Different people have different, unique needs in terms of their personal space.

Within established boundaries, healthy and functional relationships allow for our needs. After all, each one of us is unique. And we all have burdens to bear.

What we do with other people’s burdens then, has eternal significance.

First question is this: what do we do with bearing our own burden?

Either we come to Jesus, who has lifted the burden of sin from us, and we start helping others with their burdens or we let other people suffer overmuch under their burdens, and thus indicate that we actually do not know truly Christ at all, in spite of what we may confess.

I fear that sometimes we think and act as if true piety and true religion consists in letting others carry their own burdens until they can bear them no more and then “we just subtly or not so subtly” move in and stay until rescue is achieved.

Especially true when, in our opinion, they are carrying a burden of their own making. We might even think that because someone deserves the weighty burden they are carrying, they absolutely should not have our help to carry it.

But when we think, we believe and we act “vengefully” along these lines, are we really any different from all those Pharisees Rabbi Jesus personally held to an account who loaded people down with burdens that were impossible to carry?

He continually calls out to everyone who is loaded down by their burdens:

Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

Jesus didn’t say “stay in your homes and suffer alone or as you choose to see fit.

He didn’t say “give yourself your own rest when you are too tired of yourself.”

He didn’t say “you deserve the weight of your burden so LEAVE ME ALONE!”

He said, “Come to me …. any time, every time from any and from every place.”

He said, “where two or three are gathered in my name, I am truly there in their midst.” Where two or three gather, come together, be available to each other….

Bearing the burden of His image, let us remember then, Jesus lifted the burden from us, as undeserving as we all are.

He lifted our burden through his death on the cross: “Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows” (Isaiah 53:4).

Days are filled with sorrow
Days are filled with sorrow and care
Hearts are lonely and drear
Burdens are lifted at Calvary
Jesus is very near ……..

Cast your care on Jesus today,
Leave your worry and fear;
Burdens are lifted at Calvary,
Jesus is very near……..

Troubled soul, the Savior can see
Every heartache and tear
Burdens are lifted at Calvary
Jesus is very near ……..

Burdens are lifted at Calvary
Calvary, Calvary
Burdens are lifted at Calvary
Jesus is very near
Jesus is very near ………

“Burdens are lifted at Calvary …. Jesus is very Near.” Rev. John M. Moore (1952)

There is truly no better place to learn the law of sacrificial love than bearing His image at the foot of the cross. There is no better person from whom to learn this law than from our Jesus, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.

There’s no better way to bear His image, display pure religion than to selflessly bear each other’s burdens – gently restoring yet respecting – the undeserving helping the undeserving – for in this way we will truly fulfil the law of Christ.

Yes! Burdens are Lifted at Calvary …..

But where is Calvary?

Just a “two-thousand-year-old place” we cannot see or touch or feel or taste?

Calvary, in these 21st century times and seasons, in the very real sense, is …..

Wherever two or three are Gathered in the name of Jesus Christ – our Savior!

Koinonia! Worshipping and Praising, Confessing, Giving Thanks and Praying!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,    

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father Thank You for always seeing me and my needs and the needs of Your beloved Children. Your Word tells me that When I ask, it will be given to me, and what I seek, I will find. For when I ask of You, I must believe that I will receive it. What I seek shall be found. When I knock, You answer, so Father, I praise You for being the door that is always opened; thank you Father, Gloria! Alleluia! Amen.

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