Burdens

Galatians 6:2
Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

We talked yesterday about gently restoring a fellow brother or sister when they have sinned. This verse brings us to the next part of that thought. Not only should we restore those who have sinned, but we also need to carry each other’s burdens. We need to help each other when we are suffering, weary, struggling with temptation or with life in general. We need to be Jesus with skin-on.
Here’s the thing. In order to be able to bear each other’s burdens (and have our own burdens shared), we need to be involved in each other’s lives. We can’t bear the burden of another person if we do not even know they have a burden to bear.
This also means we need to be willing to open up to those around us, share our struggles, pain, disappointments, hopes, and dreams. We must let them come beside us and help us, strengthen us, challenge us, encourage us, speak into our lives, and even sacrifice for us, just as we would do for them.
Do you have people in your life with whom you are living life? Are you building the kind of relationship with them that allows you to open up to them and them to you? Are you willing to sacrifice for them, be inconvenienced for them? Are you willing to humble yourself and let them sacrifice and be inconvenienced for you?
God created us to live in fellowship with one-another. We will not grow and experience all that He has for us if we are not living intimately with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. If you have people like this in your life, praise God for them today, and seek Him (and them) to discover if there is a burden of theirs that you can help them carry. If not, pray that God would bring those people into your life. Since it is His desire that we would live like this, I’m sure He has just the right people in mind for each and every one of us!