Carry One Another’s Burdens

Christian discipleship isn’t abstract theory. It’s embodied, relational and often messy. As followers of Jesus we are not formed in solitude, but are entangled in our own humanity and that of others. Living the ‘One Another‘ life, is God’s answer to the slow unraveling of true community in the world we live in today.

In today’s passage (Galatians 6:1-6), it seems that Paul is contradicting himself in verse 2 and verse 5. So which one carry’s the point of Paul’s message?

Well, it is both. The Bible is clear in that each of us has a personal responsibility, accountable before God. We each must carry our own burdens, live with our decisions, our past and our sinful ways. No one else can repent for us or on our behalf, no one can stand in our place before God. That doesn’t mean that we have to carry those burdens alone. We have the body of Christ, His Church, to walk with us to help shoulder the weight of our burdens.

At its heart, today’s passage is a call to imitate Jesus, the ultimate burden-bearer, who took up our sin on the cross. Christ bears what we can not, and His Body, the Church which includes us, is commanded to help shoulder the burdens we can for our brothers and sisters within the Church.