I had a ladies board meeting, with 6 other women, this past week and another leadership meeting, with ten of them, at the end of September. They are all incredibly different from me, and yet, we have so much in common. I said to them, “It is amazing and such a blessing to be in a church with a group of ladies who can be so strong and confident in the person God has called them to be, and at the same time, be so humble to love, accept and help one another to become a great team who works together in unity.” We didn’t become this kind of team by chance. It has taken a lot of love, a lot of grace and a lot of truth to bring us to this point, and most of all, it has taken us being there for each other when someone hits a “low spot” along life’s journey.

In Galatians, Paul tells us, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ…Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” I wonder, how well are we carrying one another’s burdens? I’m not talking about just being all caught up in this one’s latest drama or that one’s most recent crisis, and I’m not referring to how much gossip we can share with our neighbor. I’m talking about genuinely carrying a friend’s burden, coming along side that person who is hurting and weary from the journey and helping to share his load.

I’m talking about taking about taking the load, NOT upon ourselves, but joining in prayer with that person, and helping her to lay that burden at the feet of Jesus and helping him to see a ray of sunlight through his storm. Maybe it’s a note of encouragement, maybe it’s a little gift, or maybe it’s just sitting by her bedside for an hour simply sharing in the moment, even when you could really be a thousand other places getting a something done. 

This is the kind of burden-carrying that fulfills the law of Christ. This is the kind of load-lifting that reveals His love to the world around us. When He said, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” It wasn’t just a cute cliche. It wasn’t just a nice follow-up statement to His command to love Him first.

He loves each and every one of us, because we are His children, regardless, of our differences or similarities to each other. He longs for us to love each other as He has loved us. One of the best ways we can do this is to pray for one another and help each other with the loads we carry. The more people who help in lifting a heavy load, the lighter the load is for each individual.