For all the saints

Saints walk around in other’s shoes

Galatians 6:1-3 Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day’s out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ’s law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived.

We can illustrate the idea of bearing one another’s burdens with the picture of someone staggering beneath a heavy load of grain. Somehow they must get this grain home to the family, but is about to crumble beneath its weight. Another sees the distress and rushes to their aid, lifting a part of the burden and thereby easing the weight of it. Although the supportive one does not assume the whole load, this help allows the struggling one to carry on to their destination.

Another way of looking at what Paul intended the Galatians to take away from this teaching is to see it in the context of a family.One of the marks of a family is that you help each other out. You stand by one another when others might walk away, and you look out for one another, keeping each other safe. If a member of your family was in an accident, you’d drop everything and do whatever you needed to do for them to get better. God designed families this way, and most of us feel that kind of commitment at least to the people living in our own house, and probably to everyone in our family.

This command implies that we have relationships with each other. We cannot help each other unless we are in relationship with each other and have fellowship with each other. This means we must open up to each other and welcome deeper relationships as family than just cursory, obligatory conversations. We must spend time together and speak to each other about spiritual things if we will have any opportunity to help each other grow and be able to restore each other.

This is a beautiful picture God has given us. If we walk by the Spirit, we will love one another more, and in loving one another more, we will bear one another’s burdens. 

Heavenly Father, I pray that I may grow in grace and live my life as You would have me live, in spirit and in truth. Help me to be kind, compassionate, hospitable, and gracious toward my brothers and sisters in Christ. May I love others in the same way that Christ loved me and gave Himself for me. Help me to exhibit a spirit of forgiveness and grace, honouring others above myself. Give me a spirit of gentleness and love in my dealings with others, especially those that are straying from the path of righteousness. Keep me ever humble before You, lest I am tempted to sin and so dishonour Your holy name. This I ask in Jesus' name, AMEN.