“Brothers, if someone is caught in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual should restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so you also won't be tempted. Carry one another's burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone considers himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But each person should examine his own work, and then he will have a reason for boasting in himself alone, and not in respect to someone else. For each person will have to carry his own load.”
Galatians 6:1-5
These verses present what appears to be a paradox. They tell us to carry one another’s burdens and to carry our own load. Which is it? We fulfill the law of Christ when we carry another’s burdens, especially when they are caught in wrongdoing and need to be gently and carefully helped out. But there is also a warning about carrying our own load. When you are the recipient of help from a brother there is the “welfare mentality trap” that tempts us to rely on others rather than be responsible for ourselves.
A good father may gently pick up a child who has fallen, but he does not give the child crutches so that he will never stumble again. A good father expects his child to learn to walk on the two legs God gave him!
When you help a brother be sure and give a hand not a crutch!
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