Struggle – The Lowedown

Galatians 6

¹Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. ²Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. ³If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. ⁴Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, ⁵for each one should carry his own load. ⁶Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor.(Galatians 6:1-6, NIV)

The Daily DAVEotional

In Galatians 6, Paul begins wrapping up his letter to these new believers who had been deceived into following a distorted gospel that included the addition of Jewish legal requirements to belief in Jesus as the Messiah.

In the previous section, Paul contrasted the “deeds of the flesh” against the “fruit of the Spirit.”

Following one’s fleshly desires leads to wicked, sinful living, while following the Spirit leads to godly character and righteous living depicted by the “fruit of the Spirit”.

But what does it look like to demonstrate “fruit of the Spirit” in the context of community?

In this first section of chapter 6, which is merely an extension of the reasoning of chapter 5, Paul gives three different examples of Spirit-led living within the context of community.

The first example is in how we treat others who sin. Paul says that those who are “spiritual”, that is, those who are Spirit-led, should seek to restore the other person with gentleness.

What Paul is saying is that the Spirit-led person understands that they themselves have sinned and are prone to sin. So we come to those who are trapped by their sin with gentleness and understanding.

This does not mean we condone, excuse or overlook sinful behavior. What it means is that we approach those who have sinned with an attitude of love and understanding instead of judgment. The goal is to restore the person, not punish them.

Secondly, Paul says that Spirit-led living means that we “carry each other’s burdens”, fulfilling the law of Christ. What does it mean to “fulfill the law of Christ”? It means that we demonstrate the love of Christ to others. Thus, Paul is saying that we demonstrate love to others when we carry their burdens.

But what does that mean?

Our understanding of this command is complicated by the seemingly contradictory command of verse 5, in which Paul states that “each one should carry his own load.”

So which one is it? Are we to carry each other’s burdens or not? It seems as if we’re being told in one verse that we’re supposed to help one another while in a following verse, we’re told each person is supposed to help themselves.

Is this where the popular adage “God helps those who help themselves” comes from?

Hardly.

So then, what does it mean? What is Paul saying?

To understand what Paul is saying in this passage, we need to understand the difference between the two different words used: burden and load.

Henry Cloud, in his book “Boundaries” explains that “the Greek word for burden means “excess burdens,” or burdens that are so heavy that they weigh us down. These burdens are like boulders. They can crush us.”

By contrast, ‘the Greek word for load means “cargo,” or “the burden of daily toil.” ‘ Henry Cloud gives the example of a knapsack or backpack that is normal for people to carry around.

The idea here is that a burden is not a normal situation. It’s when life brings an extreme trial or unusual struggle that is difficult to manage on your own.

An example might be the death of a loved one that dramatically alters the family dynamic or the unexpected loss of a job that plunges a person into financial turmoil. These are the kinds of life-impacting events that require more than normal love and support from others, whether they be close friends or extended family.

On the other hand, we all have normal, routine responsibilities that we must learn to manage.

Henry Cloud says that “problems arise when people act as if their “boulders” are daily loads and refuse help, or as if their “daily loads” are boulders they shouldn’t have to carry. The results of these two instances are either perpetual pain or irresponsibility.”

Dr. Cloud highlights two extremes that are becoming more common today. One issue is when people don’t take personal responsibility for normal, routine issues in their lives, but expect others to do for them what they should be able to do for themselves. We call those who participate in this behavior enablers.

We all have heard extreme examples of this: the 30 year old young man who is still living at home and spends most of his time holed up in his room playing video games. He has no meaningful job and no pathway to get a job that would allow him to be self-supporting. Meanwhile, mom still cooks all his meals and does his laundry while dad buys gas for his car so he can get around and hang out with his friends. The parents think they are “loving” him by not saying anything to him that would be mean or make him upset. They are treating him like he’s still in high school instead of treating him like a grown adult.

Paul says that each person should carry his own load, which means we should not treat our adult kids like they are still dependent on us and incapable of taking care of themselves. This is not actually loving.

The other extreme to this is to treat those who have experienced genuine trauma and upheaval in their lives as if they just need to suck it up and deal with it. This also is not loving.

Paul says that the loving approach to those who have heavy burdens thrust upon them is to support them by helping them to carry those burdens, while the loving approach to those who are not experiencing extreme trials is to not enable them. In other words, it’s loving to expect people to grow up and be responsible adults.

So a second way we demonstrate Spirit-led living in the context of community is by supporting others who are experiencing burdens in life that extend beyond the normal expected responsibilities that we all must manage.

A third way of expressing Spirit-led living is by supporting those who are impacting and influencing us spiritually. In verse 6, Paul says that those who are being instructed spiritually by others should share with those who are instructing them. In short, Paul is advocating for the support of those who are spiritual leaders by those whom they are leading.

Paul’s message is that we fulfill the law of Christ by demonstrating love to others. We love others when we gently help restore them to genuine fellowship with Christ, when we support those who are experiencing genuine trials and trauma in their lives and when we financially support those who are investing in our own spiritual growth and well-being.

Paul gives two warnings in this passage that can trip people up: when helping others with their sin issues be careful not to fall into that sin with them AND be careful not to enable those who may take advantage of your good nature by seeking your help for things they should be responsible for themselves.

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Reflection

What are some examples of burdens that some people might face that would require others to come alongside them to help carry those burdens?

What do you think are examples of responsibilities that would fall into the category of “load” for the typical person? In other words, what are some examples of responsibilities that are pretty much typical for most normal people?

When have you been involved in helping to carry the burden of another?

What are some of the dangers of not expecting another person to “carry their own load?”

What do you think are some reasons why some people carry the load of others as if those loads are actually burdens?

What do you think are some ways you can determine if a person’s struggle is really a burden or whether it’s a load?

Photo by Erwan Grey: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-with-a-big-bag-on-a-street-in-black-and-white-20850989/

James 1

²Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. ³For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. ⁴So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything. (James 1:2-4, NLT)

The Daily DAVEotional

Last year around this time, I decided I wanted to shed about 10 pounds by the time I hit my birthday about 3 months later. I developed a plan that involved counting my calories through an app called LoseIt and increasing my fitness level through running.

I should say that I really don’t like running. Actually, that’s too generous. “Hate” would be a more appropriate word to describe the feelings I had for running.

My twins are runners so I’ve been exposed to the running culture for a number of years and I’ve made many attempts to get myself out there. But honestly, it was always just so dreadful. I couldn’t go very far before I was completely gasping for air and I almost always developed some kind of knee/leg/calf/shin/ankle/foot injury within a couple of weeks, which always required time for healing which in turn meant a complete restart a few weeks later.

I was in the habit of driving over to the high school and doing laps around the track because it was flat. I thought that anything I could do to make running easier would be better. I was wrong.

It turns out that when Covid hit, the school closed the track to the public. Those of us in the know knew how to get onto the track even when the gates were locked but then the school hired security guards to kick out anyone who might try to circumvent the rules.

At that point, I had no choice. If I was going to try to burn off excess calories via running, I was going to have to do it in my own neighborhood, which meant running up and down hills.

It turns out that running only on flat surfaces was not exactly helpful for my progress. It also turns out that running up hills is helpful. The struggle of going up a hill actually builds endurance.

After a few weeks of running, I was able to slowly extend my distance. Three miles had been about my max but I was now able to do three miles more regularly.

One day, I decided to do a long run of 6 miles. The plan was to run out of my neighborhood and over to the man-made Lake Mission Viejo. There’s a walking loop around the lake that’s about 3.1 miles. Running that loop and then running back would be about 6 miles total. The problem was that there are a number of long hill inclines around that lake and I found that I couldn’t run that whole loop without having to make several stops to get my heart rate down and control my breathing.

But one day, I was able to push myself and make it all the way around that lake loop without stopping. It was a big achievement. I decided that I would make another attempt in a few days, which I did. Running around that lake became easier and more routine, precisely because I had to struggle to do it in the first place. It was the struggle that increased my endurance and helped me build my stamina, a feat that had always seemed to elude me.

Now, a year later, my typical daily run is 6 miles, including the lake loop. About once a week, I’ll run a longer run of 10-13 miles. My times have gotten better and I find that I actually enjoy running more than I ever thought I would.

When James talks about struggles in this first chapter of his letter, I think about running. Just as the struggle of running up hills helped increase my endurance, so the struggles of life increase our faith and ability to trust God.

The struggles of life actually help your endurance grow. Of course nobody likes struggles but they are an inevitable part of life. So James’ advice is to embrace the struggles of life and look at them as an opportunity to develop endurance, which in turn will mold you into a person who is “strong in character and ready for anything.”

Reflection

What examples do you have from your own life that demonstrate how struggle actually promotes growth?

What are some current struggles you’re currently experiencing? In what ways could these struggles be used as an opportunity for growth?

Many missionaries who have served overseas among more underprivileged communities and cultures have remarked how deep and strong the faith is of believers who have relatively little compared to American Christians, whose faith, by comparison, has often been observed to be shallow and lacking in depth. What do you think might be some reasons why American believers, despite our vast biblical and financial resources, often are seen as having a shallow faith, while believers in third world countries are often described as having deep and enduring faith?

What are some steps you can personally take to develop your faith and build endurance?

Photo by Emma Simpson on Unsplash