Burden Carrying Friends || Find a Friend #5 (FINALE)

Introducing “Find a Friend”

It’s important that we do life with others. The reality of our world today pushes through the concept of individualism. The belief that we don’t need anyone else to find progress in life is something that is filled with struggle and anxiety. As a Christian, we are taught that we are not meant to live life by ourselves. Not only are we called to have a right relationship with God, but we are called to surround ourselves with people that will love us, care for us, encourage us, and correct us when we need it.

The goal of this series is to highlight important parts of friends, why we need friends and community, and how we can maintain these friendships in our society today.

In the Last Part

In Part 4, we looked at the self-sacrificial that Jesus embodied when He went to the cross to sacrifice His life to atone for the sins of humanity. The Holy Spirit instills the self-sacrificial love in our hearts and encourages us to sacrifice things like our time, attention, generosity, and reputation, for our friends.

Caring Restoration

Today, we’ll wrap up this study by digging into how we can bear each other’s burdens. To be able to carry the heavy things that we tend to hold on to all our lives. We’re looking at Galatians 6:1-2, which says:

NASB – 1 Brothers and sisters, even if a person is caught in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual are to restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you are not tempted as well. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.

NRSVUE – 1 My brothers and sisters, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ

VOICE – 1 My spiritual brothers and sisters, if one of our faithful has fallen into a trap and is snared by sin, don’t stand idle and watch his demise. Gently restore him, being careful not to step into your own snare 2 Shoulder each other’s burdens, and then you will live as the law of the Anointed teaches us.

Sin can overtake the minds and lives of Christians through being tempted, our weaknesses, and constant disobedience towards God’s commands. The body of Christ should help sinner’s recover from their sinful behaviors instead of shaming and condemning them. We can do that through the Holy spirit, bearing responsibility in the work of helping others out. Spiritual maturity is through humbly obeying the commands to care for your neighbor and using wisdom to care for them. The goal of this care should be restoration. Loving correction seeks healing, repentance, and renewed obedience through grace secured by Christ. The restoration should be done gently, which means the truth is given with patience, compassion, and a desire for others to be good.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: What does it mean to you to help restore someone from their sinful behavior? How can this be done gently?

Healing from Wrong Beliefs

For our conversation today, I want us to look at the bigger concepts of restoration and gentleness. Restoration is the Greek verb katartizó (kat-ar-tid’-zo). Throughout the different usages, it centers on a God-directed completion so that His purposes and continue without any issue. Paul wanted restoration to be a reset for those struggle with sinful behavior. Paul believed that prayer was a way for this completion to occur.

Leaders of the church should be able to create a place of restoration for people. Christians have a struggle through false teachings from corrupt leaders. Different leaders can interpret scripture in a way that affirms their own personal beliefs of the world instead of allowing scripture to form their personal beliefs. People can struggle with this because it can feel like an attack on their identity, believing that if their beliefs are wrong, then their lives have been a lie. We need to be willing to allow people wrestle with this. If a past belief of their was wrong, let them feel the grief about it. Let them feel the hurt and frustration from having people guide them down this road. This is how we can get to a place of healing. Telling people: “This is wrong,” and assuming they will 180 immediately is not going to happen most the time. When we allow people to work through their grief, we can walk with them down a path of restoration. We help them to see where the harm occurs and then show them what beliefs and behaviors they can develop in order to be more aligned with God’s command. We cannot force them, judge them, or condemn them all through the entire process. We can share loving rebukes, but that is the extent of it. Friends should be able to have a place to allow for this transformation and restoration to occur.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: How have you experienced this restoration in your life?

Gentle Guidance

We are called to help restore others with a gentle attitude. Gentleness is the Greek noun prautés (prah-oo’-tace). It’s acting in a way that shows you are willing to submit to God’s will channels power for another’s good. This gentleness comes from the Holy Spirit, and is produced within us through the Spirit as a fruit of the Spirit.

For us, it’s shown through prayer. We remove our own agenda out of the way. We don’t pursue “fixing” someone for the benefit of our ego or pride. We yield our own minds to God and allow His guidance and wisdom to take over. A gentle mind allows us to move when God tell us to move and how God says to move. Gentleness is something that we can meditate on through the teachings of Christ in the Gospel. Jesus met everyone with a gentle disposition, and didn’t treat anyone with contempt or disdain. Jesus spoke and acted in a way that taught us to be patient with each other and to gently walk alongside others in this world. Our words should focus lifting each other up. The goal should not be to provide that you were right in telling them about their sin, or that you knew they should correct their behavior. The aim is to walk with them through their journey, and encourage them along the way. Our actions should also be about the benefit of others. In this process of restoration, we have to remember that it’s not about us. We must remove any push to create a self-induced benefit, but to aim that we have their best outcome in mind.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: What would gentleness look like for you? How would a gentle friend help you in the current season that you are in?

Bearing Your Burdens

Christians are called to walk with others that are wrestling with sin, suffering, grief, material need, or anything in between. Paul is encouraging the Galatians to be careful so that they are not sucked into the same temptations that they are facing. Believers and followers of Christ do not leave the weak to struggle by themselves. The love we share to those who are struggling is through practical service, sacrificial generosity, patient intercession, and faithful correct. True friendships acts in love toward each other rather than indifferent.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: When you hear “carrying each others burdens,” what does it look like to you?

Properly Responding to the Burdens

Let’s look at two things. What does a burden look like? What does it mean to carry them? A burden in the Greek word baros (har’-os). In the Galatians 6:2 context, It assumes that a life that is built by the fallen standards of the world creates a life that is heavy for each person to walk through. By sharing these burdens with others, Christians have the opportunity to share a self-emptying love with those around us. To carry something is the Greek word bastazó (bas-tad’-zo). In the Galatians 6:2 context, the church is called to rally around those that are overwhelmed.

Overall, we, as Christians, are called, as a community, to help people with the overwhelm of life. These burdens can be different things like sinful behaviors, grief of different sorts, physical needs like food and shelter and so on. No one is called to live this life alone, or deserves to live this life alone. A lot of people tend to crumble under the stress, anxiety, and panic that comes with trying to get through grief, changing behaviors, and trying to survive. We are built to be in community in some capacity. How that looks is different on a personal level, but community is still the center about what it means to have a God-centered friendship.

How does it look to bear another’s burdens today? If it’s spiritual burdens, we can pray for our neighbors (with consent). We can listen to their battles with temptations and help with accountability if they need it. We can be there to bounce ideas or give feedback if needed. Whatever that looks like, they get to tell us how we can help them. We don’t get to assume what’s best to help them. If it’s emotional burdens, we walk with alongside their feelings. We allow them the freedom to feel whatever they need to feel and potentially help them walk through the journey of their emotional battle. Again, we let them tell us what would work best for them. We can offer suggestions, but they get to be the ones to give a definitive “yes” or “no.” If it’s physical burdens, it could be helping them with chores around their homes, cooking meals, taking them to medical appoints, helping out with bills. Anything to help the general stress of trying to live in our world would be a benefit. Overall, we must make sure that they consent to the help. Often people, no matter how well-intentioned, try to help in a way that doesn’t actually help the person involved. They do it in a way that makes sense to them more. Bearing each other’s burdens are important, but make sure that their burdens are being cared for.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: How can someone bear your burdens today?

Let’s Wrap Up

Today, we looked at the importance of bearing the burdens for our friends. This comes from a place of allowing people to healing from behaviors that they trusted for a long time, come to a realization how harmful these behaviors are, and moving to a place that’s more aligned with God’s love and mercy. Our response in the measure should be gentle by nature, through both our words and actions. Our burdens can resonate on a variety of measures, but we should be willing and ready to help with the overwhelm of another person. We just need to make sure that our help is actually beneficial to the person in need and not just for ourselves.

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