Good morning and welcome in today. Today we’re going to take a look at some scripture from Galatians chapter 6 but before we do that I wanted to ask you a question.
Have you ever had somebody carry something for you that was extremely heavy?
One day our family and a friend of mine took a day and climbed up a mountain called Humphreys Peak in Flagstaff Arizona. It’s quite a hike and over 12,000 feet high. We left really early in the morning and eventually got to the top and had lunch. There was a lot of rocks on the top of the mountain and on our descent my friend twisted his ankle. I had to carry him down the entire Mountain. It wasn’t a very easy chore and cause me some physical suffering the next day but I did get him all the way to the bottom.
When I chose to put him on my shoulders I took upon myself his suffering that he would have had to endure if he had tried to make it down that mountain side alone.
When we sin against God or others it causes our hearts and minds to suffer in pain. When we choose to forgive an offender who has sinned against us, we are choosing to bear their burden upon ourselves so they don’t suffer anymore. Bearing somebody’s burden has to do with completely forgiving someone in your heart and reconciling with them.
Gal 6:1-3
Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.
Verse 6 has to do with the restoration of somebody who is overtaken in a fault. Restore means return someone or something to a former condition, place, or position.
One of the best examples of bearing another’s burdens is a story that Jesus taught called The Prodigal Son.
Luke 15:11-32 And he said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.
Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing.
And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him.
And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.
In this passage The Prodigal Son was overtaken in a fault. A fault is a sin. He felt so bad about what he did that he went home to apologize to his dad. He had a burden of sin on his conscience for what he had done with his dad’s inheritance.
What the dad chose to do is to restore the son in a spirit of meekness.
When he got home his dad didn’t yell and scream at him, he didn’t tell him to take a hike and that he didn’t want him around anymore, he simply forgave him and chose to carry his burden of sin for him. He meekly restored him to sonship by his good graces, and completely forgot the past events.
We forgive others because we understand that we are sinners who have been forgiven by God. As Christ forgave us and carried our burden we are to carry the burdens of others and forgive them.
Bearing another’s burdens has to do with forgiving people completely in your heart. Instead of holding a grudge or bitterness for what they did to you or others, you simply let it go and forgive the other person from your heart when they apologize. After all, this is what Christ does for us when we confess our sins to him in time of need.
He took our sins debts committed against Him at the cross, laying down His own life rather than imputing sin to the world. He suffered not for his own sins, for but for ours and the sins of the entire world.
After restoration it was like the event never had happened and was completely forgotten. That’s the way we need to forgive each other in the church because without it relationships never continue, reconciliation never happens, and divine forgiveness is only a form of pretense.
Remember the Apostle Peter was forgiven by Jesus Christ and completely restored.
Because God forgives and overlooks our sins and forgives us we should be able to do that to each other in the church.
When you forgive somebody else in your heart you’re taking the burden of sin off of their shoulders and releasing them from any debt against you. It can hurt to forgive, but think of the nails and the suffering that Jesus did on the cross for you.
This truly is the law of Christ. Forgive and reconcile and bear one another’s sins and burdens, because all of us have sinned, and are all in need of Christs love and mercy. Show those divine qualities of His to others. Be merciful.
I think that’s where I’m goig to stop for right now but Lord willing I’ll talk to you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.♥️
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