When the women in our newly formed Bible study faced a series of tragedies, we suddenly found ourselves sharing deeply personal experiences. Facing the loss of a father, the pain of a wedding anniversary after divorce, the birth of a child who was completely deaf, the experience of racing to bring a child to the emergency room—it was too much for anyone to carry alone. Each person’s vulnerability led to more transparency. We cried and prayed together, and what started as a group of strangers became a group of close friends in a matter of weeks.
As part of the church body, believers in Jesus are able to come alongside others during times of suffering in a deep and personal way. The relational ties that bind together brothers and sisters in Christ aren’t dependent on the length of time we’ve known each other or the things we have in common. Instead, we do what Paul calls “[carrying] each other’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2). Relying on God’s strength, we listen, we empathise, we help where we can and we pray. We can look for ways to “do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers” (v. 10). Paul says that when we do so, we fulfil the law of Christ ( v. 2): to love God and love our neighbour as ourselves. The burdens of life can be heavy, but He’s given us our church family to lighten the load.
By Karen Pimpo
REFLECT & PRAY
Who’s suffering around you? How can you lighten their load today?
Dear God, thank You for walking alongside me no matter what I face. Help me love others in that way today.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The apostle Paul urged believers to “serve one another humbly in love” (Galatians 5:13)—a lifestyle only possible through continual reliance on the Spirit (vv. 16–18, 22–26). Galatians 6:1–10 offers practical guidance on what such a Spirit-led life looks like in practice. Paul focused on both corporate responsibility (of the faith community) and individual responsibility (of each person). For example, the community of faith seeks to correct and restore someone caught in sin, while the individual believer must always be on guard to “watch [them]selves” (v. 1). Similarly, as a group sharing life together, the believing community can “carry each other’s burdens” (v. 2), while each individual takes responsibility to “test their own actions” and “carry their own load” ( vv. 4–5). Paul invites the community of faith to both serve in community and to individually take responsibility so that they can do “good to all people” (v. 10).
Monica La Rose
Our mission is to make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to all.
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