Share the Load

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2

Have you ever been out shopping and bought things that you never intended to buy, so the bags are heavier than you would like and you still have a bit of walk before you can set everything down? How good does it feel when you’re struggling with an awkward package or several heavy bags and someone comes along and says, “Let me help you with that.”

Being burdened down is not a nice feeling but unfortunately, in life, burdens are unavoidable and they come in all shapes and sizes. Some are light; some are heavy. Some we carry for a short time and others can be carried for years. There are burdens that we will let people have a peek at and other burdens that isolate us because we don’t want others to know what we are carrying, sometimes out of embarrassment or out of fear of judgement. Jesus never judges our burdens, He simply asks that we bring them to Him.

In bearing one another’s burdens, whether light or heavy, we are drawing alongside someone who may be struggling to cope with a particular circumstance; a circumstance that is not for us to judge but to help them through. We cannot carry someone else’s burden but we can share the weight of it through prayer, practical help and encouragement. When we do this, we honour God and so fulfill the law of Christ in loving one another just as He loved us.

Let us be the kind of people who draw alongside one another and say, “Let me help you with that.”