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« The Towel of the Servant... | Main
Thursday
Jul012010

Carrying each other’s burdens….as a fellow journeyer. 

Sometimes in our close relationships as we journey together, trying to figure out how to have close friends and to be a friend, we are lulled into a false impression that everyone in our ‘group’  is being honest about their struggles. 

Years ago, Ken and I were in a group of people where the husband in the family decided he did not want to be married anymore and left.  To all of us in our friend group, this was a ‘sudden’ decision – one we did NOT see coming!   We were heartbroken, of course, though not nearly as heartbroken as the young wife and son.  What happened?  We all thought we knew the family, that we knew their lives and kept up with one another.  Can pain and suffering be ‘hidden’ from those who are the closest to you?  Of course, it can.  Sometimes as fellow journeyers, we do not let others into our own lives, and yet we expect that they will let us into theirs.  God never intended that we ‘suffer in silence’ or that somehow to share your struggles means that you are less of a Christ-follower.  In fact, He tells us in Galatians 6:2 to “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”  How can you help carry something that you don’t even know exists or needs carrying?  The only way to fulfill this Scripture is for us to start being honest with one another.

To help carry each other’s burdens involves honesty, sacrifice (of time and self and prideful independence), transparency and commitment – commitment to care for one another, to be more interested in my friends needs and hurts than in my own.

The Galatians 6 passage goes on to talk about ‘each one carrying their own load’ – personal responsibility.  Different – from helping to be a burden bearer; however, because we all expect of others and ourselves that we carry our own load does not mean not caring and lack of personal involvement.  Remember – we are ‘responsible to’ --- not ‘responsible for!’


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