Carry Your Own Load

 

“…for each one should carry their own load.”

—Galatians 6:5b

The Apostle Paul fascinates me with his brilliance. As he gave instruction to the early churches, he often used contrast in order to bring balance to his teaching.

In my last blog post, I shared Paul’s instruction to carry one another’s burdens. In the very next verses, he offers these words from Galatians 6:3-5:

If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load.

So, while we are to carry one another’s burdens, we are also instructed not to depend on others or expect others to carry our burdens. Rather, as much as God enables us to do so, we are to carry our own burdens.

This places Paul’s teaching into perfect balance. We are to hasten to help our brothers and sisters in Christ with their burdens, but we are also to do our best to carry our own burdens. Like many spiritual truths, there is a definite balance involved. That’s why some have suggested that the walk of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is like walking on a high wire, holding fast to a balancing pole. Each step must be taken with great care. The balancing pole of God’s written Word helps us maintain our balance.

As we struggle to carry our own burdens, when a brother or sister in Christ reaches out to us to help us, we can joyfully receive such help with sincere gratitude. However, by always first attempting to carry our own burdens, we never become dependent on the help of others. We must never become expectant for that help. We must never wait for someone to do for us what we can and we should do for ourselves.

These two teachings create a perfect balance in our lives. But, these contrasting teachings also make it critically important to live in community with our brothers and sisters in Christ: always seeking to help, but never expecting others to help us.

Such perfect balance gives us lives that are truly worth living. How very wise our God is in His unfailing love for us.

 

Based on a blog originally posted on Wednesday, August 19, 2015

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