Help One Another
Bear one another’s burdens, and so
fulfill the law of Christ. – Galatians 6:2
I am blessed to find myself surrounded by a tribe of
good and wonderful people. Most are not related by blood but they are the
truest of true when it comes to being faithful.
Do you have your own tribe? Everyone needs people who
will drop everything and come when they are needed. Everyone needs people who
will love them no matter what. Everyone needs people who will speak truth and
kindness into their lives. And everyone needs people who know when all we
really need is a listening ear and an open heart.
Some people try to do life alone. It’s a hard
journey. We allow our pride or
self-reliance to dictate our steps. Can you imagine the loneliness?
Others allow fear to hold them back. What if they are
rejected for their failings? What if others condemn their insecurities, their
past, their mistakes? It could happen. Maybe it has happened.
Building a tribe isn’t an easy road. That probably isn’t
what you want to hear. Sometimes we make the mistake of trusting the wrong
person. That doesn’t mean we should give up. We need each other.
How do we help each other? Sometimes it’s simply
listening to the cries of a broken heart. Sometimes it is offering practical
assistance with a task at hand. Other times it is by offering godly counsel.
We probably all know someone who thinks he’s got it
together. He’s quick to tell you what to do. He’s determined to live your life
right along with his own life. He would never make the mistakes you’ve made.
For if anyone thinks he is something,
when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work,
and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor.
For each will have to bear his own load. – Galatians 6:3-5
Don’t let anyone’s grandiose boasts make you think
they’ve never made mistakes and never needed help. They have. Each of us is
responsible for our own journey. Failing to understand that comes from pride
and arrogance.
So does this notion that we must live up to the
standards of other people. The thing about standards and expectations others
hold up for us is that they are impossible for anyone, including the person
looking down on us. Life is messy and wrought with traps that will trip us up.
We need people who will help us, not weigh us down with their rules and
regulations.
“They (the Pharisees) tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders,
but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.” –
Matthew 23:4
We all go through different seasons of life. Some of
those seasons are awesome and we feel a strength that can only come from God.
Other seasons are filled with stress and worry, when we struggle to remember
God’s promises over our lives. It is then when we most need someone to speak
truth into our midst. We need to be reminded that we are not alone, we do have
worth, this season will pass.
We who are strong have an obligation to
bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.
– Romans 15:1
I hope you have a group of supporters who love and cherish
you. And I hope you are that for others. It is truly a blessing beyond words.
