Galatians 6:1 ESV
“Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted."
Who is this referring to? It is speaking of our fellow
believers in Jesus Christ. If any one of our fellow believers in Christ happens
to fall into sin, and is overtaken by sin, or is literally caught in the act of
committing a sin or a sinful course, then this is what our approach should be
with that person.
First of all, we need to make certain we don’t have a log in
our own eyes before we proceed to help a brother or sister in Christ take the
speck out of their own eyes. For, the blind can’t lead the blind to full sight.
If we ourselves are overtaken in a sin, we can’t help others to get free from
their sinful behaviors. So, first we need to clean up our own lives.
Nonetheless, I would not recommend that someone who has just
recently been overtaken in a sin be the one to help restore another overtaken
(caught) in a sin, for the temptation would be too great to return to sin or to
even lead the other into even deeper sin. For, I believe when it says here, “you
who are spiritual” it refers to those who are walking according to the Spirit
and who are not walking according to the flesh.
Also, I would caution against males helping females, and
vice versa. Especially those who are married should not be trying to help
someone of the opposite sex. Even pastors can fall into sin trying to help
someone of the opposite sex to be restored back to a right relationship with
the Lord. We need to be very wise in this, and we need to guard our hearts
against falling into sin ourselves. Our hearts may be in the right place in
wanting to help others, but we need to exercise much wisdom and caution, too.
So, those who are walking according to the Spirit, and who
are not struggling with (as in regularly giving in to) sin themselves should
restore the one who has fallen into sin. And, to restore is not to just give
the other person a pat on the back and to tell them that God loves them and so
they are ok. God does love us, for real, but because he loves us he died for us
on that cross that we might be delivered from our slavery to sin, not so that
we could continue on in our sin unhindered and without guilt (Rom. 6:1-23).
So, restoring means helping that person back to a walk of
faith according to the Spirit of God, and to help that person to know how to
overcome temptation to sin in the future so that they don’t fall into that same
trap of sin again. And, so it would be to check up on that person, too, to see
how they are doing and to encourage them in the Lord in their walk of faith.
But, this must be done with gentleness. And, gentleness is
not weakness or powerlessness, but it is power under reserve or controlled strength.
For, if we are going to help others out of sin and into walking in
righteousness and to not return to that same sin again, we can’t be weak on
sin. We can’t be apologetic about the truths of scripture, either. We have to
speak the truth in love, and we have to be emphatic about what needs to be done
to ensure that we don’t fall back into the trap of the devil and be overtaken
again.
But, know this! There are people who profess faith in Jesus
Christ who are still living in addiction to sin, who don’t really want out of
their addiction. They may confess wrong doing, and they may act as though they
want to change, but they are not willing to relinquish control of their lives
over to God. Self is still on the throne of their lives. So, they may be in a “sin,
confess” cycle of repeating the same sins over and over and over again.
Many of those who are living this way are users and
manipulators, and they will try to drag you down with them. So, be wise and
discerning, for not everyone is who they say they are. Not everyone tells the
truth. There are many liars and deceivers in the world. So, pray always for God
to give you insight and wisdom. And, remember to speak the truth in love, and
sometimes that means with “gentle force.”
Bear Others’ Burdens
Galatians 6:2-3 ESV
"Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself."
We need to be people who are compassionate towards others
who are going through hard times or who have been caught in a sin, but we need
to exercise that compassion with much wisdom and discernment, as was previously
mentioned. For, being tough on sin, and speaking the truth in love does not
mean we are not compassionate people. The opposite may actually be true.
Take Jesus, Paul, Peter and John for examples. They were all
compassionate people. They cared about what others were going through. They
reached out and helped people in their times of need. But, they didn’t go light
on sin in order to make people feel good about themselves, for that wouldn’t
help anyone. It was because they loved others with God’s love that they spoke
the truth in love, and that they addressed sin issues in full frankness, and
that they did not give people an out for continued sinful courses.
So, bearing one another’s burdens does not mean we go soft
on sin, or that we don’t speak the truth in love to them. For, if truly we are
bearing their burdens, we will feel the weight of their sin, and we will feel
the heaviness of their burdens, and we will have such compassion towards them
that we will want to share the truth with them that will set them free!
If the burden they are carrying is not a burden of sin, but
the loss of a loved one, or the loss of a job, or need of money to pay a bill,
or help with something, or they may be someone who is being abused or taken
advantage of in some way, we need to care about their circumstances deeply as
though we are going through that ourselves. And, that should lead us to inquire
of the Lord as to how we can best help them.
But, again, we must exercise much caution and discernment
here, for not everyone is on the “up and up.” And, we can be taken advantage of
if we are not careful. So, we just need to pray for much wisdom and for the
Lord to lead us into what he wants us to do or to say to help those in need who
are carrying these burdens.
If our fellow believers are going through hard times and
trials, we need to encourage them in the Lord and in His Word, too. For, we can
help some, for sure, but their real help comes from the Lord who is the only
one who can comfort their hearts and mend their damaged emotions and heal their
diseases. He is the only one who can truly lift their burdens from their hearts,
and who will take the weight of them on himself, and who will fill them with
his peace and with his calm reassurance.
Testing Our Own Work
Galatians 6:4-5 ESV
"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.”
If God is going to use us in the lives of others to help
them, we need to be humble in our own estimation. We need to have fair and
honest evaluations of our own selves, and not think more highly about ourselves
than we ought. But, this doesn’t mean we go around putting ourselves down all
the time. That is not true humility. That is inverted pride. For, it still
centers on self.
And, I am not talking here about being honest about
ourselves and our own failures, but I am talking about comments which draw
attention to ourselves and which open the door for others to respond “Oh, you
are fine,” or “You are really a good person,” and the like. We should not go
around self-abasing, i.e. belittling and degrading ourselves. That is not being
humble.
Again, true humility has to do with being honest with
ourselves and not thinking about ourselves in a manner which is not true. And,
it is not self-focused, but it is God-focused, and it is focused on helping
others at the cost of our own desires or time or resources or reputations, too.
And, we should not compare ourselves to others, either,
whether to make ourselves seem lowlier, or whether to make ourselves appear
superior. For, it is not about us in contrast to someone else. It is about us
and our relationships with Jesus Christ and whether or not we are obeying him,
and whether or not we are walking according to his plan for our lives or if we
are still living to please our own flesh.
So, this applies, as well, to those whom we may be trying to
help if they come back to us with “You just think you are better than me.” It
is not about us and them or them and us. It is about Jesus and how we measure
up to his standards. It is about knowing Jesus and doing his will, and obeying
him, and walking in his ways, according to his standards, not ours.
For, if we are going to help lift anyone’s burdens, we have
to point them to Jesus. And, to know Jesus is to obey his commandments. For,
God’s love for us is not just that we be forgiven our sin, but that we be
delivered out of our slavery to sin and that we now become slaves of his
righteousness (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Tit.
2:11-14; 1 Pet. 2:24).
Do You Know My Jesus?
William F. Lakey, 1956
V.B. Vep Ellis, 1957
Do you know my Jesus?
Do you know my friend,
Have you heard He loves you,
And that He will abide till the end?
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