It might seem Paul contradicts himself in just
a few verses. In Galatians 6:3 He tells us to “Bear ye one another's burdens”, then just three verses later he
tells us to “every man shall bear his own
burden”
What gives?
Well, a bit of understanding of the original
text is in order. The burden in verse 2 is a word that describes an overload,
one that would drop you to your knees, a heavy load. The word in verse 5 is a responsibility,
the load any person would be expected to carry in their travels. One is a carry-on
bag, the other is a fully loaded down steamer trunk.
There is the difference. Christians are to help
when we see those overburdened by life. We are to grab one end and help lift up
the load faced by those struggling with the effort. But that doesn’t mean we
are to be responsible for taking away ever weight from a person. Some folks
would love to offload all their responsibilities for someone else to handle. That’s
not a good idea.
Help is good. Dependency is not. People unburdened
of any responsibility quickly fall apart. Either the privilege goes to their head
or they lose a sense of self-worth, or maybe even both.
Carry the weight but also know when that
weight is too much there will be someone there to help you lift it up.
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