Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.  Galatians 6:2 HCSB

I want you to think about the last time you went out of your way to help someone else. Maybe it was just a few minutes ago. Maybe it’s been a few days. Maybe you can’t remember the last time.

You may figure you have enough of your own problems and can’t possibly take time out to help someone else. I get it. Sometimes we find ourselves in situations that seem to consume our lives and take up all of our free time. Or maybe you are saying, “Free time, what’s that?”

We all have our load to bear. This verse isn’t saying we are to carry another’s load, it says we are to help carry the excess or the burden. We all must carry our standard load. The burden refers to the excess that can weigh us down.

You may have heard it said we are either just coming through a trial, in the midst of a trial or about to go through a trial. This is just life. We all have those periods of calm where we can help others. Ideally, we should all help one another as best as we can.

I have a confession to make. I love helping others, but sometimes I have a selfish motive. I help others because it takes my mind off of my troubles. It prevents that pity party that I may slip into with too much time on my hands. It also leaves me feeling blessed.

Often times I learn so much from others, it’s like they end up helping me more than I have helped them. Neat how that works, isn’t it?

God didn’t put us here to think about only ourselves. He put us here to help each other out. The second part of this short verse says we will fulfill the law. This refers to what Jesus said when He was asked about which was the most important commandment.

Jesus responded by saying the most important commandment was to love the Lord with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind. He went on to say the second is like it in that we should love our neighbor as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39).

Think about that. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. If you find yourself with a burden, you are going to do all you can to relieve that burden aren’t you? Why? Because we all love ourselves and don’t want to suffer.

If you love others as you love yourself, you will want to help to relieve their burdens as well. There is a beautiful description of this in Acts chapter 2 verse 42 says, “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers.” Verse 44 says that all the believers were together and held all things in common.

Could you imagine what this world would be like if we cared as much about others as we do ourselves? What a wonderful place this would be. Unfortunately, we will have to wait until we get to heaven to experience that.

God’s word tells us we are comforted so we can be a comfort to others (2 Corinthians 1:4). Romans 12:10 says we should outdo one another in showing honor.

Even in our churches, people are not helping others as they should. I have heard it said that 80 per cent of the work done in church is done by 20 per cent of the people. Volunteer to help out. Every church I know of needs help in one or more areas. What’s stopping you?

Next time you go to your church, check it out. Is most of the work being done by a handful of people? Maybe you could speak to your pastor or those doing the work and see if you could help out.

It at all possible, help someone today. If you want to keep that command about loving others as you love yourself, this is a great place to start.

Have a great day!