| The churches in Galatia were very new, being led by legalistic teachers, and made up of both Messianic Jews and Gentiles.The Jews believed that the Gentiles needed to follow the Mosaic Law as a part of their salvation. Paul wrote the letter to the Galatian churches to rescue them from the false teaching that salvation requires both faith in Christ and obedience to the Law. Paul reaffirmed that people are justified by grace alone through faith alone, and then called believers to live out that freedom through the power of the Holy Spirit. These churches were worried about the guardrails due to this freedom from the Law of Moses. Paul gave them instructions on how to be in community together under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. In Galatians 6:1-2, Paul focuses on “bearing one another’s burdens”. A burden is a “heavy, crushing weight that cannot be managed by one person alone”. We are made to be in community, and to lift one another up. We all have burdens to bear, and those burdens are supposed to be shared. Too often, within the church, people do not feel safe to share their burdens for fear of judgement. In Matthew 11, Jesus describes Himself as gentle and lowly in heart. Jesus didn’t restore people with a pointed finger, but with open arms. The emphasis is on the restoring the person instead of focusing on the justice that must be served. Gentleness is the key to restoration. This is a simple command that we can all do. We look around at those in our community and see a burden. Then we can have the privilege to come alongside them. Paul ends this thought with “and so fulfill the Law of Christ”. The law of Christ is submitting to Jesus and living out the teachings of Jesus in the church and beyond. We can only do this with the help of the Holy Spirit as He produces the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. God is deeply concerned with how we treat one another. The “one anothers” are what should make us different than the world. Questions to Consider: - Why is it sometimes easier to carry our burdens alone than to ask for help?
- Can you think of a time when someone helped carry one of your burdens? How did that encourage you?
- Is there anyone at school, church, work, or in your neighborhood who may be carrying a heavy burden right now?
- Jesus carried the greatest burden of all—our sin—on the cross. How should His love change the way we carry the burdens of others?
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