I got some great insight on these verses in Galatians that cleared up something that has stumped me in Scripture or quite a while. The first few verses of this book in the New Testament seem to be contradicting each other. Galatians 6:2 tells us to, “Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Then in verse 5, we read “for each one should carry his own load.”
When we dig deeper into the original language we get some great insight into what the Apostle Paul was trying to convey. The word burden in the Greek means “an overwhelming load” It’s a boulder that is too heavy to carry by yourself like breast cancer or a spouse who just walked out on you, or a kid in the hospital. In the body of Christ, we help each other shoulder those boulders.
Now let’s look at the word “load” in verse 5: “Each one should carry his own load.” It means a backpack or knapsack with everything you need to do life right there. But there are folks who will recruit us to carry their knapsacks because, let’s face it, if they can get someone to do it for them, they can coast. And in our codependence and need to be needed and liked, we will!
This is from Drs. Cloud and Townsend’s book, Hiding From Love and it’s one of the best description of codependence that I have run across: “Boundary conflicts happen when Hiker A tires of his knapsack and wants a free ride. Hiker B, wanting to be caring, takes it on. After a few miles, two things happen. First, Hiker A learns it’s a lot of fun not to have to be responsible to pay his own rent, find a job, or take responsibility for his own happiness. Second, Hiker B shifts from love to resentment to bitterness as he takes on the impossible task of being responsible for another person’s life.”
I have seen many a well-intended Christian get trapped into carrying too many knapsacks for folks who really need to carry their own load. Then the good-willed Christian BURNS OUT and chooses not to involve himself in the body life of the church or any people group again for that matter.
Looking at these verses, we need to see if we are allowing ourselves to be recruited
- out of a need to be loved and accepted,
- or because our addiction is to “fix” people so they won’t hurt because we can’t stand it when they hurt.
- because we have not had this information before, and we think it’s out Christian duty to help everyone who asks. Jesus didn’t go door to door!
We don’t need to fix it everyone who recruits us. The truth is that sometimes the best help we can give is to let them lean on Jesus because in a minute we will be gone, but Jesus will never be!
Hoping this helps you on your “hike” through life,