10/19/2026
Good Monday morning, Antioch!
This morning I want to write to you concerning a topic that has hit every church at some point, and even now is hitting ours. We have fellow Believers in our congregation who are struggling with many trials. From the loss of a loved one to physical medical issues and beyond...
My verse of study this morning is Galatians 6:2 which says, "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."
We have some who right now are "burdened." But what does it mean, this word "burden?" Some will make everything in their lives out to be a burden; some make mountains out of mole hills really. So again, what is a "burden?"
"Bear one another's burden:" The Greek word for burden refers to a heavy, crushing weight - such as severe emotional distress, grief, temptation, financial hardship, or physical illness. This burden is of no fault of one's own, it is something that was not expected nor could have been prevented.
So, with this understanding, Paul teaches that Believers should step in to help carry these overwhelming loads rather than expecting people to suffer alone. When a widow is hurting from loss and loneliness, when a seemingly healthy person suddenly faces eternity out of the blue, or a businessman sees his hard work crumble because of the economic climate turn - when the "burden" was unavoidable - Christians should step in to help shoulder the burden.
But why?
"And so, fulfill the law of Christ." The law of Christ is not a rigid list of legal rules, but the law of LOVE (loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself, modeled by Jesus). When you actively help someone, especially a fellow Christian, you put Christ's command of love into action.
But what about those who make mountains out of mole hills? The ones to whom everything hard and difficult become "their burden?" To this Paul tells us that there is a difference between a burden and a load.
In Galatians 6:2, Paul talks about sharing heavy, unexpected burdens.
A few verses later in Galatians 6:5, Paul writes, "For each will have to bear his own load." The Greek word for load is referring to a personal daily responsibility or duty, like a backpack.
The distinction is clear: Christians should help carry each other's crushing, unexpected life crises (burdens), but every person is still accountable for their own everyday personal duties and moral choices (loads).
The practical application of bearing other's burdens looks like listening, praying, offering meals, providing emotional support, or helping someone recover from a moral or spiritual failure with gentleness (as instructed in Galatians 6:1, "Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.")
It also requires wisdom: Healthy burden-bearing means helping in times of crisis without enabling irresponsibility or letting others dump all of their daily duties onto you.
Quite simply, if we do in deed love Christ as we claim, then we should also love other Believers enough to help them no more and no less than Christ has helped us in our burden of personal sin.
In Christ...
