"Are You a Burden Bearer"Scripture Reading: Galations 6:1-5
6:1 - Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. 6:2 - Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 6:3 - For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, hedeceiveth himself.6:4 - But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicingin himself alone, and not in another. 6:5 - For every man shall bear his own burden.
Gal.6:1 “Fault” in the Greek is the word “Paraptoma” - A false step, a blunder, error, mistake, wrongdoing. This is the word used for slipping into sin, rather than willful sin.
We are then told, “Ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of meekness............” This word “Restore” in Greek is the word “Katartizo,” and is used to indicate putting a dislocated limb into place or to mend.
When a fellow Christian has made a false step, blundered, slipped into sin, what do we do? Kill the wounded Christian! NO!!! We (the Spiritual - meek) are to do is restore that Christian who has been dislocated from the Body of Christ, put that spiritual limb back in place, mend that fellow Christian.
The tense of “restore” is the continuous present, suggesting this may involve a process of mending; thus, we may need a lot patience and love to help this person.
NOTE: We are NOT talking about a habitual sin, willful and unrepented sin (that’s another subject), BUT rather a person who has slipped into sin, made a false step.
Gal.6:2 - “Bear ye one another's burdens (baros), and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
v.2 “Burden” in the Greek is the word “Baros” – and denotes a weight or that which makes a demand on one’s resources - It always suggest that which is heavy or burdensome.
Now, go to Gal.6:5 - “For every man shall bear his own burden (phortion).”
We see the word “burden” again, but it is a different Greek word, “Phortion,” which means - Something which is borne without reference to weight.
(See Matt. 11:30 Jesus said, “...My burden (Phortion) is light.”)
So, in life there are 2 types of burdens - heavy burdens (Baros) and light burdens (Phortion). God tells us to take care of our light burdens (phortion) with His help - verse 5,
BUT God wants us (the Body of Christ) to bear the heavy burden (v.2) of a wounded, dislocated Christian. By doing so, we “...fulfill the law of Christ,” (v.2) which I believe is to love (see Gal.5:13, 14 & John 13:34, 35). Please keep in mind that even a light burden can become heavy to a Christian who has fallen and is out of God’s will in an area of their life.
If you know someone who may, so to speak, have taken a “false step,” it may be time for you who are “Spiritual - meek” to take the necessary step to help in the process of restoring this fallen Christian. You’ll do this by walking in love with that person, encouraging that person (taking them under your spiritual wings ), and of course praying for that person.
On the other hand, if you know that you are that fallen Christian, you need to find some “strong/spiritual/meek” Christian(s) to help you out of your fault “paraptoma.” That may be your pastor, Christian friend, accountability group, etc.
On a positive note, just by knowing you have blundered and acknowledging it is a step in the right direction, for many times a fallen Christian is blind to/ignorant of his fault, which is when the Body of Christ needs to step in (in love) and let that brother/sister know that they have taken a false step.
May this word today encourage us to answer the call of being a “Burden Bearer,” or to take the necessary steps to be free from a “false step” and get back on track in the will of God.
