¹Brothers 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. ²Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. ³If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. ⁴Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, ⁵for each one should carry their own load. ⁶Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor. - Galatians 6:1-6
Receiving discipline is hard, knowing how to deliver discipline can be just as hard. This passage in Galatians is only one area in the Bible that instructs on how to handle discipline. As I worked on writing my newsletter on how God is Jealous, I noted that God’s jealousy drives Him into action to address sin and since the Holy Spirit dwells in us, we too should be jealous on His behalf and should drive us to address that sin.
However, jealousy is a consuming flame and if we aren’t careful can turn into a wildfire that consumes not only us or even the person caught in sin but others as well. The thing about wildfires is they simmer out of view and by the time the wildfire reaches someone’s attention, it’s already blown out of proportion. Which is why understanding how to manage this flame is important, and the tool Paul informs us to use is gentleness.
I have been harshly rebuked and with that rebuke came an accusation that I was not saved. This rebuke had blindsided me, and had blown out of proportion. As a result, we were both burned.
Since then, I have considered what it means to discipline with gentleness.
Gentleness is one of the fruits of the Spirit. According to a note on Biblehub.com, this gentleness is a “power with reserve” and “begins with the Lord’s inspiration and finishes by His direction and empowerment.”
Being gentle doesn’t mean we are weak, but we know how to control that strength so we don’t crush others. That beginning inspiration from the Lord is His call to action to rebuke the sin, and that’s where we are in danger of stopping listening to God, sidestepping Him, and taking the matter in our own hands according to what we think is best.
I believe this is why Paul warns us to watch ourselves (v1b) so that we don’t get tempted to take matters in our own hands, following only the passion this jealousy for God drives us to do. But to remember to trust God with the process.
For God will finish the work He started (Phil. 1:6). But the way He chooses to get there may be much different than our earthly minds can make sense of. For God calls us, through Paul, to carry each other’s burdens.
There are two different types of burdens in this passage, and it is important to note that the two “burdens” are two different Greek words. This first one is “baros” (v2) and is a weight and “carries personal and eternal significance,” implying a responsibility that is expected of someone to keep or someone holds according to their status, and also the weight of our reward (2 Cor. 4:17) - which is the result of us acting upon our responsibility.
The second is “phortion” (v5) and is a burden that “is not transferable, i.e. it cannot ‘be shifted’ to someone else.” This is the burden used to describe the standard we must keep in order to be saved. The standard that Jesus gives is light (Matt. 11:30) but the standard of the law - given by the religious leaders of His day - is heavy (Matt. 23:4, Luke 11:46).
The burdens we are called to carry are the former. The responsibility we hold as children of God, the standards of walking with Jesus, the results of our expectations. When we live out a role that is contrary to our title and our footsteps lead us away from God, and when we try to force results apart from God's power, we sin. These burdens are all ones Jesus carries for us: He gives us the right to be called a child of God, He leads us into His ways, and He fulfills the desires of our hearts as He knows best. Yet when someone tries to carry it themselves, we are called to come alongside them, lifting that weight up to God on their behalf (1 John 5:16) until the issue within their heart can be addressed.
Later in verse 9, Paul encourages us not to weary in doing good because even though we can't feel it or can't see it, God is still working, He's moving things into place, He's preparing, and when the time is right, He will bring about the result.
For this bearing of one another's burdens fulfills the law of Christ, the commandment He gave to us: to love one another (John 15:12). For jealousy is born out of love.
An important thing to remember is that though God may have chosen to address this issue through us, it is still God who works, provides the means and guides through the process, and also brings about the result. For Paul then warns about thinking too highly of ourselves and therefore deceiving ourselves. We are not God, we are not anyone’s Savior, neither are we the Spirit who teaches and transforms people's hearts, sanctifying them before God.
We should test our actions, the things we are doing and saying. Are they motivated by our own ideals and what we think is best? Or are we following God’s lead on the matter?
For only then can we take pride in ourselves (v4). Not according to our actions, words, or accomplishments, but according to our obedience to God. Neither can we compare it to anyone else because sometimes what God asks of us seems less important, impressive, or even impactful than what someone else did. But it’s not a competition nor so much about what was said, done, or accomplished but whether or not we were obedient to God.
Because each of us is called to carry our own load (the latter of the two burdens). The load we carry for ourselves is the yoke Jesus placed on our shoulders (Matthew 11:30). The status of our salvation and our responsibility of obedience is between us and God. A one-on-one relationship. This yoke binds us to Jesus, who bears the weight of our sins and makes us right with God. This yoke allows the Spirit to guide us into obedience while relying on Jesus’ strength.
So what is Jesus’ yoke? His command? To abide in His love (John 15:10) and to love others (John 15:12).
Therefore, we must be careful on which burdens of others we are trying to bear because it is not our responsibility to save them nor condemn them. For “whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (John 3:18).
The judgment we are prone to give is not necessary, for our sin already speaks against us. We are called to love, not to allow or enable them to continue in the sin, but to guide them under God’s direction back into His truth and ways.
After much prayer about a woman I had recently met with whom I noticed an issue, God did not give me words to speak about the problem directly. Instead, He changed my perspective to help me see the love she possessed as a child of God and the ways she is walking with the Lord. Whether this answer was a “no” or “not yet” has still to be determined, but He has used this experience to address an issue of my own heart before addressing her issue as Jesus warns us not to do in Matthew 7:4-5 and Luke 6:42.
Finally, the one who had been caught in the sin should share with the teacher everything that was learned from this process, all the good that came out of this experience. For this not only solidifies the lesson learned, it provides a comfort to the teacher that the pain they caused in the rebuke - no matter how gentle they tried to make it - was not in vain, but produced growth and good.