Bearing Burdens
READ
At first glance, today’s verses seem contradictory. "Carry each other's burdens" but also "each one should carry their own load"? But Paul is painting a picture of what faithful community actually looks like—and it's beautifully balanced.
Let’s take a moment to read Galatians 6:1-5:
Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load.
REFLECT
The Greek word for "burden" (baros) refers to overwhelming weight—the kind of crushing load that will break someone if they carry it alone. The word for "load" (phortion) means a normal, manageable responsibility. Paul is saying: faithfully help carry what would crush your brother or sister, while still maintaining personal responsibility for your own daily duties.
This is where faithfulness in relationships gets practical. When your friend is going through divorce, job loss, illness, or grief—that's a baros. Faithful friendship means showing up, sitting in the pain, providing tangible help. You don't just say "I'll pray for you" and disappear. You bring meals, watch their kids, listen to the same story for the tenth time, send the text that says "thinking of you today."
But here's the other side: faithfulness also means not enabling unhealthy dependence. You're not called to carry someone's responsibilities that they need to carry themselves. You're not supposed to rescue people from the natural consequences of their choices or prevent all their discomfort. That's not faithful love—that's codependence.
Notice verse 1: "if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently." Faithful relationships include accountability. Sometimes bearing someone's burden means speaking truth in love, even when it's uncomfortable. It means helping them get free, not just making them comfortable in their chains.
Here's the key to all of this: gentleness. Paul says watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Faithful relationships are built on humility, recognizing "but for the grace of God, there go I." You bear burdens without judgment because you know you've needed the same grace.
This is the rhythm of faithful community: carrying crushing burdens together while maintaining healthy boundaries, speaking truth while offering grace, helping without enabling, staying close without losing yourself. It's not about perfection; it's about persistence—continuing to show up for one another, learning as you go.
RESPOND
Take a moment to process what God might be leading you to do in light of what you read.
Who in your life is carrying a "crushing burden" right now, and what specific, tangible way can you help carry it this week?
Are there any relationships where you're carrying someone's "load" instead of their "burden"—enabling rather than helping?
How can you speak truth in love to someone who needs restoration while maintaining gentleness and humility?
REST
Take a moment to rest in God’s presence and consider one thing you can take away from your time reading, then close your devotional experience by praying:
Lord, give me eyes to see the burdens people around me are carrying. Give me hands willing to help and a heart humble enough to realize I need the same grace. Help me find the balance between helping faithfully and enabling unhealthily. Teach me to love with both gentleness and truth. Make me the kind of friend who stays, who shows up, who persists. Amen.