Sharing and Bearing Burdens

Bearing Each Other’s Burdens

Scripture: Galatians 6:1-5

Introduction: Do you feel that sharing your burdens—your heartache, trouble or pain—with someone else is a sign of weakness? Oftentimes, we carry things God never intends for us to carry, and we bear burdens God never intends for us to bear alone. In this message we’ll talk about how to bear each other’s burdens.

Review from “Letting God Handle Your Burdens.”

“Burden” defined: A burden is a heaviness of the heart, spirit and soul—something that weighs us down emotionally, mentally or spiritually.

There are two types of burdens we face:

1. Burdens given by God

2. Burdens of Life

The Church should be a safe place to share our burdens. How do we go about bearing each other’s burdens?

1. Take the appropriate action: Get involved

• Becoming involved with the lives of others places us in a position to know how to best help them.

2. Have the right purpose in mind: Restoration

• In bearing another’s burdens, having the right purpose means working to restore that person’s emotional, spiritual, mental or physical health.

3. Have the right motive: Love

• John 13:34 tells us the right motive is love: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love on another, even as I have loved you, that you love one another.”
• 1 Peter 4:8 – “Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.”

4. Have the right attitude: Gentleness

• We must have an attitude and approach of gentleness when bearing each other’s burdens. A gentle person is one who is patient, caring, loving, kind, forgiving and accepting.

Closing: Are you ready? Are you available? Is your life the kind of life God could use you to restore those suffering around you to a sense of acceptance and personhood? He wants us to be that kind of person, and that’s a decision you have to make.~