Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one examine his own work and he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For each one shall bear his own load.     Galatians 6:1-5 NKJV

When you first read this Scripture passage, it almost seems as if Paul is contradicting himself. In verse two he says we are to bear one another’s burdens and then in verse five, he says each should bear their own load. In John MacArthur’s commentary, he point out that there is a difference between burdens and loads.

Paul begins by saying that if someone is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual should restore them in a spirit of gentleness. If you are a Christian, especially a mature Christian who sees a less mature Christian dealing with sin that has overtaken them, Paul is saying that you should help them in a gentle way. This means we don’t scream at them or put down on them to make ourselves feel better, but we come to them in a gentle, loving way and offer them support.

Paul then issues a warning here, lest you be tempted. If your brother in Christ is having a problem with drinking and you are a recovering alcoholic, you don’t want to meet him at the bar to discuss things. Be sure that you are not tempted to join him in his sin. If he is dealing with an issue that has plagued you, you may want to get someone else to come alongside you.

Paul explains that this is a burden. This is something that we can’t bear alone, we may need help. A burden is something that overtakes us and becomes too much for us to bear. And as Christians, we should help each other with burdens.

Then Paul encourages self-examination. We must be sure that we don’t think too highly of ourselves. This is where instead of helping that person, we may find ourselves putting them down to lift ourselves up. This is not what we, as Christians, should do. We should not compare ourselves to others and think that we are a better Christian than they are because we have not dealt with the same troubles.

We should compare our lives to that of Christ. Paul calls us to be imitators of Christ in Ephesians 5:1. If we compare ourselves to Christ, trust me we will have nothing to boast about, but should recognize that we are all works in progress with a lot of work to do.

Paul is referring to our load as our day to day living. We all know that just our day-to-day chores can be a load, right? The things we are called to do as Christians can be a load. We all have to bear our own load. We don’t answer for what anyone else has done or did not do, but for what we have done or did not do.

As Christians we are tested. We will all find ourselves carrying a burden at some point in our lives and maybe on multiple occasions. When we see someone else suffering, we should consider their suffering and gently help them where we can.

Each day we deal with our own loads. Life is never easy. We will all face hard times. But in all things, we must do our best to imitate Christ, because we will each answer for what we have done be it good or bad.

Have a great day!