Carrying Our Burdens Together

Recently, I helped my best friend and family move to their new home. Trip after trip, we loaded vehicles, then drove two blocks to unload their multiplying possessions into their new home. Two blocks. Innumerable trips. Countless stairs.

Also innumerable were expressions of “Thank You” and “We owe you” nearly every time I passed by with loaded arms. I would respond with a smile and reminder, “This is what family does!” Then, I’d snatch a cookie and grab another load.

I understood. My posture is similar when others want to help me. I feel needy and a burden. Love means not being a burden, right?

Wrong. In Galatians 6:2, Paul instructs Christ-followers to carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ. Love is the law of Christ, so carrying each other’s burdens is to love. 

Sometimes we go through seasons where burdens are too much to haul around on our own. God’s Spirit undoubtedly empowers us in these seasons, but another way God intends to provide is by calling us to help each other. There is a time to carry burdens for others and a time to invite others to help carry ours. Both practices invite us to be more like Christ. This is what family does. We’re all on the move from who we were to who we are becoming in Christ. We’re better together when we share each other’s burdens along the way. And a cookie never hurts, either.