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LOVING PEOPLE WITHOUT CARRYING THEIR BURDENS · THIS IS THE LIFE PODCAST

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  Speaker 1: I hope this morning finds you doing well and rested
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  Speaker 1: and ready to go for another productive day. As we
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  Speaker 1: get ready for the Lord's Word this morning on our
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  Speaker 1: morning moments with Jesus time that we have, each and
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  Speaker 1: every morning, Monday through Friday, beginning at 6 o'clock. I
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  Speaker 1: want to just say I'm so grateful for all those
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  Speaker 1: who have been able to join us over the years
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  Speaker 1: for this little quiet time with the Lord that we
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  Speaker 1: have together. And this word comes this morning out of
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  Speaker 1: Galatians chapter 6, as we're talking about the fact that
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  Speaker 1: you can love people without having to carry them. And
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  Speaker 1: I'll explain what that means. That just kind of came
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  Speaker 1: to me the last week or so as I was
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  Speaker 1: Thinking about different things that the Lord may want to
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  Speaker 1: share with all of us. And this kind of came
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  Speaker 1: to my spirit and my attention. So I gave meditation
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  Speaker 1: to it over the last couple of days and just
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  Speaker 1: wanted to share it with you this morning. Galatians chapter
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  Speaker 1: 6 verses 2 through 5. It says, For if a
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  Speaker 1: man think himself to be something when he is nothing,
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  Speaker 1: he deceives himself. But let every man prove his own work,
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  Speaker 1: and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and
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  Speaker 1: not in another. In verse 5, For every man shall
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  Speaker 1: bear his own burden. Now at first when we look
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  Speaker 1: at those two different verses that talk about the burden,
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  Speaker 1: At first these verses may appear to contradict each other.
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  Speaker 1: But they don't because the word is infallible and inspired.
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  Speaker 1: But one tells us to bear one another's burdens. While
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  Speaker 1: the other says every person must bear their own burden.
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  Speaker 1: Now in verse 2 the word burden is translated weight
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  Speaker 1: or load. In verse 5 the word burden is translated
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  Speaker 1: to mean task. Or service. And there's a difference. And
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  Speaker 1: we need to understand that difference. Because while one tells
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  Speaker 1: us to bear one another's burdens. And the other seems
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  Speaker 1: to say every person must bear their own burden. But
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  Speaker 1: when you put them together they reveal an important balance.
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  Speaker 1: In how we are called to love each other. I
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  Speaker 1: want you to pay close attention this morning. Because I
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  Speaker 1: believe the Lord is really wanting to speak to all
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  Speaker 1: of us in a powerful way. There are burdens that
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  Speaker 1: become too heavy for someone to carry alone. Maybe it's
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  Speaker 1: grief or sickness. Maybe it's a loss of a loved one, disappointment.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe it's an unexpected hardship. And that can leave a
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  Speaker 1: person feeling overwhelmed. And it's in those moments, compassion moves
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  Speaker 1: us to come alongside them. We pray, we listen, we encourage,
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  Speaker 1: we offer whatever help that we can. This is how
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  Speaker 1: we fulfill the law of Christ. That's the law of love. Amen? But,
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  Speaker 1: there are also responsibilities that each person must carry for themselves.
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  Speaker 1: We cannot make someone else's decisions for them. We can't
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  Speaker 1: force them to change. We can't protect them from every
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  Speaker 1: consequence of their own choices. We can offer wisdom, but
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  Speaker 1: we cannot make them follow it. We can point them
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  Speaker 1: toward God, but we cannot save them or fix them.
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  Speaker 1: I really believe the Lord wants to speak that this morning.
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  Speaker 1: We cannot save them or fix them. This can be
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  Speaker 1: especially difficult when we deeply care about someone, can it?
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  Speaker 1: Their pain becomes our pain. Their struggles, they occupy our
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  Speaker 1: thoughts continually. And their choices can even be begin to
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  Speaker 1: steal our own peace. And before long, we may find ourselves,
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  Speaker 1: if we're not careful, carrying their responsibilities that God never
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  Speaker 1: intended for us to carry. See, there is a difference
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  Speaker 1: between helping someone carry a burden and carrying their entire
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  Speaker 1: burden yourself. Compassion says, I will walk beside you. But
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  Speaker 1: an unhealthy responsibility? That says, I will fix everything for you.
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  Speaker 1: And there is a difference. One expresses love, but the
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  Speaker 1: other eventually produces exhaustion, frustration, and if we're honest, sometimes
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  Speaker 1: even resentment. It can become very unhealthy for someone to
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  Speaker 1: be more dependent upon you than they are on the Lord.
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  Speaker 1: Even Jesus allowed people to make their own decisions. He
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  Speaker 1: loved the rich young ruler, told him the truth, but
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  Speaker 1: then allowed him to walk away. Read the story. Jesus
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  Speaker 1: did not chase him, lower his standard in any way,
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  Speaker 1: or accept responsibility for the man's response. He loved him,
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  Speaker 1: but he did not force him. And loving people is
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  Speaker 1: that way. Loving people sometimes means helping them, but other
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  Speaker 1: times it means stepping back, praying, and allowing God to
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  Speaker 1: work in ways that we can't. Boundaries are not always
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  Speaker 1: evidence that we don't care. Sometimes they're an acknowledgement that
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  Speaker 1: maybe we are doing more harm than we're actually doing good. See,
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  Speaker 1: you can encourage people without controlling them. You can remain
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  Speaker 1: available without allowing their decisions to govern your emotional and
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  Speaker 1: spiritual well-being. I believe that speaks to someone this morning.
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  Speaker 1: Love will help carry what has become too heavy. That's
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  Speaker 1: the first burden. But love does not assume responsibility for
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  Speaker 1: every choice another person makes. That's theirs to do. So
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  Speaker 1: walk beside them. Pray for them. Point them towards Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: But then trust God with the weight that was never
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  Speaker 1: yours to carry in the first place. I hope this
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  Speaker 1: helps you this morning and encourages you in a special way.
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  Speaker 1: Today you be safe, you be strong, and you be blessed. Lord,
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  Speaker 1: we will see you back here again tomorrow. And until then,
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  Speaker 1: I hope you have a great day. And I'd love
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  Speaker 1: to hear from you today and pray for you if
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  Speaker 1: I can. In Jesus' holy name, Amen.