Begin with 2 minutes of silence and stillness before God.

"Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." (Galatians 6:2)

Yesterday’s devotion alluded to Hillsong’s, “Who I Am.” The song boasts what our identity looks like in the body of Christ. In our Father’s house, everyone has a place to belong, a place of value within a community of other believers. Christ’s law of love and grace is fulfilled when we carry one another’s suffering and love each other well. 1 Corinthians 12:12 says today’s church has many individuals that make up one body of Christ. Each member robustly contributes to the function of the entire body by loving others well. How can we love well?

Dallas Willard wrote in his book, The Divine Conspiracy, that instead of random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty, we believers ought to “practice routinely purposeful acts of kindness and deeply intelligent acts of beauty.” In other words, bearing our brother’s burdens should be intentional acts of love as a life rhythm rather than sporadically showing kindness. How can we do this as a member of the greater body of Christ?

• Restore with Gentleness (Galatians 6:1): Loving well means gently correcting the mistakes of others. That can only come when we have built a relationship built on the foundation of love and trust. Conflict resolution is uncomfortable and one that should not be avoided just because it does not feel good. While offering course correction for someone else, we must first check our hearts to avoid falling into a judgmental, critical, finger-pointing, or unforgiving spirit. The goal is to restore, maintain, and grow relationships, not forever destroy them.
• Carry the Weight (Galatians 6:2): There are two burdens we carry. First, we are responsible to carry the weight of our Christian and personal responsibilities that cannot be transferred to anyone else such as our personal responsibilities to our families (1 Timothy 5:8), our churches (1 Corinthians 12:18), and our personal holiness (1 Peter 1:15–16). The other burdens we carry are those unforeseen hardships that weigh us down: death, loss, financial difficulties, traumatic events, and marital challenges. Our duty is not to completely take over or even solve the problem. Rather, sharing the burden means making the workload lighter to carry.
• Endure to the End (Galatians 6:9): When carrying personal weight in addition to coming alongside our brothers and sharing their burden, it requires long-suffering and endurance. To grow tired and abandon our promises only adds to our brother’s suffering. Paul tells us not to grow tired too soon because our reward is in heaven.
• Point them to the Deliverer (Psalm 23): Carrying our brother’s burden does not place the responsibility on us to relieve their suffering. As much as we would like, we cannot take away their pain. Instead, we can walk alongside them in their journey, providing community, support, and a model of Christian brotherhood.

Take 2 minutes to reflect in silence.

Reflection:

• In what way will you try to better love others today?
• If you are the one with a burden, how can you put your pride aside to ask and receive help from your Christian family?
• Prayer: Jesus, my Savior, thank You for taking the lead in demonstrating how to love others well in Your ministry and sacrificial death. My desire is to be more like You, contributing to the strength of my brotherhood by carrying some of their burdens. Help me with personal pride if I need support and help from the body. I love You because You loved me first. In Your name, amen.

Family Devo: Galatians 6

By: Lauren Strickland

When partnering with your family to know, love, and follow Jesus, we strive to create and share content filtered by the Head-Heart-Hands model.

Head: the knowledge of God and His Word | Heart: the personal connection from scripture | Hands: a missional mindset 

Head

Do you know why God gave us rules? To help us LOVE well. Jesus said the greatest rule is to love God and the second most important rule is to love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves (Mark 12:30-31). This is what Paul was talking about when he used the phrase, “the law of Christ”. God’s rules are always about love! Helping someone with their burdens helps us obey the law (the rule) of Jesus Christ because it shows love.

Heart

Burdens come in all shapes and sizes. Some of them can easily be seen from the outside, like when Mom comes through the door with her arms full of grocery bags or a friend passes you in the hall with a big stack of books. These are the kinds of burdens we carry in our arms. Other burdens are hidden and can only be seen when someone talks about them, like when you have a problem or feel worried about something – these are the kinds of burdens we carry in our hearts.

Just like Mom’s groceries or a friend’s load of books, our worries and problems can feel “heavy” too! They weigh us down and cause us to feel sad or alone and afraid. Can you think of a time when you felt this way? When I’m carrying around a burden (in my arms or in my heart) and someone comes along to help me with the load (by lifting or by listening), my burden feels lighter.

Hands

We help lighten the load when we share the heavy lifting! When you notice someone in your family or school carrying a heavy load, offer to share the weight! Sometimes heavy lifting also looks like holding open a door, handling the laundry, or helping with dinner and the dishes. We also help lighten the load by listening. When you see a classmate or sibling with a worried look or frown, a usually fun and chatty friend who gets quiet or doesn’t want to play, or when you find someone sitting alone or upset one day–take notice and be careful to listen! Is there some way you might help ease the burden? Pay close attention!

Name some ways you can help lighten the load on your family - offer to help. Talk about some ways others can share any burdens that might be weighing you down - ask for help! (That’s what families do!)

Prayer: Jesus, our heaviest burden was our sin (the thoughts and words and actions that keep us from loving you and ourselves and others well). Thank You for carrying our burden of sin to the cross so that we could be free from the weight of our sin. Help us to share in carrying others' burdens to show Your great love for them.