Burden Bearing...verse 2: In I Corinthians 13:7, Paul says that love bears all things (NSRV). It is on the basis of agape that we carry each other's burdens. Agape is the kind of love that is based, not on emotion, but on the will. It is a love that seeks the highest good of another person. We have all seen someone struggling to load a heavy object into their car in a shopping center parking lot. Someone stops to help them load it. We think to ourselves, "How noble." Then we ask ourselves, "Why didn't I stop to do that?" You see, burden bearing takes time. It takes effort. We have to be willing to inconvenience ourselves. Sometimes we are too busy. Like the priest and the Levite in Luke 10, we have people to see and places to go. We do not have time to stop and help the person struggling under a heavy load. Yet in so doing, we "fulfill the law of Christ."

It is easy to see a connection between this encouragement to carry each other's burdens and 5:14, where Paul says, "Love your neighbor as yourself." We know how this applies when we are on the other end of carrying a heavy load. We keep thinking to ourselves, "Why doesn't someone help me? Why doesn't someone notice?" I remember hearing Dr. James Dobson tell the story of his wife being out of town. It was Saturday morning and his young son was out of bed earlier than his dad. He was scrounging around in the kitchen, trying to find something to eat. He had managed to get up on the counter to reach for the cabinets above. But, when it came time to get down, he couldn't. He had tried to slide down to the floor, but was hung in mid-air, unable to find the floor with his little foot, still several inches in the air. There he was, swirling his foot around, trying to find the floor and talking to himself saying, "Somebody help the boy!"

You see, people rarely will ask someone to help with the heavy load. Either they are too proud or too embarrassed, or they do not want to inconvenience others, or they think they would be rejected. So there they hang in mid-air, saying to themselves, "Somebody help the boy." We need to be more aware of those bearing heavy loads. We need to raise our antennae higher. There are people all around us bearing heavy loads who could use a hand. The widow who gets so lonely, the young parents who have lost a child, the teen who has gotten into serious trouble. The husband who has lost his job, the wife who is abused, the chronic pain sufferer. Sometimes the help they need is just a word of encouragement. Sometimes it is a small investment in time. Sometimes it may involve a major investment in time.

Thinking you are something when you are nothing...verse 3: There is no one more distasteful than the self-important person. Jesus aimed some of his strongest teachings at folks like that. They were the ones who wanted special recognition. They loved the places of honor at banquets (Matthew 23:6). Such self-promotion is delusional. There are a lot of reasons people think they are special and should be noticed. They are smart, or good-looking, or athletic, or wealthy, or famous, or powerful. When you strip away all of that veneer, you have nothing. That is why some people cannot cope with life when they lose their money or their beauty. As Christians, what makes us special is not who we are, but whose we are. It is not what we have, but who has us.

Don't compare yourself to others...verse 4: The easiest thing in the world is to compare yourself to others. It always makes you feel better. There is always someone who is lower on the totem pole then you are. There is always someone who is poorer, or less educated or just plain dumber, or slower, or uglier, or louder, or meaner. The problem with this sort of comparison is the false standard. It is easy to make yourself feel like a spiritual giant by comparing yourself to others. Such comparisons build up pride and ego. They do not generate a spirit of humility. But, when we compare ourselves to the Risen Lord, then we find humility. We realize that the only thing that makes us different than someone else is the grace of God. Every time you see a street person, you should say, "There but for the grace of God go I." Every time you see someone who is psychotic, say, "There but for the grace of God go I." This old world is filled with two types of people...all of them sinners. There are saved sinners and lost sinners. The only thing that makes a difference is the blood of Jesus. Not our jobs or our money or our houses or our looks. See Luke 18 where Jesus gives a powerful parable about a Pharisee and a tax collector, which illustrates this point.

Carry your own load...verse 5: In verse 2, Paul told the Galatian Christians to carry each other's burdens. Now, three verses later, he tells them to carry their own load. Was Paul forgetful? Did he contradict himself? I do not think so. In the first instance, he was writing about helping one another. In that context, we are to carry each other's burdens. In the second instance, he is writing about those who compare themselves to others. Forget that! Get busy with your own baggage!

Because of the Cross,

Mark Pugh

Southern Hills Church of Christ
Mark's e-mail address: mspugh@hotmail.com

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